Nobel Peace Prize Russian Journalist Dmitry Muratov auctioned off his medal to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees. On Monday night, his award was auctioned for $103.5 million, shattering the old record for a Nobel. The online auction bid began on June 1 in observance of International Children's Day.
Muratov was awarded the gold medal in October 2021. He helped found the Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and was the publication's editor-in-chief when Kremlin shut it down in March amid its clampdown on journalists, the public dissent of Russia, and the Ukraine invasion, CBS News reports.
The auction was the award-winning Russian journalist's idea, having announced that he was donating the money to charity earlier. Muratov said the proceeds would go directly to UNICEF to help the children displaced by the war in Ukraine.
"We want to return their future," he said.
Value of the Nobel Prize Medal
When melted, the 175 grams of 23-karat gold contained in Muratov's medal would be worth about $10,000. Per CBS, the most paid Nobel Prize medal was that of James Watson in 1962 for discovering the DNA. He sold his award for $4.76 million.
Three years later, his co-recipient, Francis Crick, received $2.27 million in a bidding run by Heritage Auctions, the same company that auctioned off Muratov's medal.
Joshua Benesh, the chief strategy officer for Heritage Auctions, said that he could not believe what happened and was awestruck. He said there was a tremendous groundswell of interest in Muratov's story, his act of generosity, and that the global audience supported it, per The Guardian.
Children Refugee from Ukraine
According to United Nations Humanitarians, at least two children have been killed in Ukraine every day since the Russian invasion. BBC News reports that more than 13 million people have fled their homes since the attack. More than five million have left for neighboring countries, while eight million people are displaced within Ukraine.
As to CNN, UNICEF says that the ongoing conflict has deeply affected 7.5 million children in Ukraine. The kids have been separated from family, lack basic supplies and resources, and face the daily threat of harm from explosives.
UNICEF says that two in three children have been displaced in Ukraine as an intense gunfight continues between Russian and Ukraine forces in the eastern Donetsk region. The agency added that many civilian infrastructures had been damaged or destroyed, including 256 health facilities and one in six UNICEF-supported 'Safe Schools' in the country's east. The children depend on these facilities for shelter. Hundreds of schools across the country have also been damaged.
Trauma and exploitation risk
According to UNICEF, refugee children risk family separation, abuse, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. The impact of the war on children's mental health has contributed to an acute child protection crisis. The agency said that the children need safety, stability, child protection services, and psychosocial support.
The agency calls for a ceasefire and full humanitarian access so their teams can reach children in need, wherever they may be.
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