The Russian journalist who recently shared the Nobel Peace Prize said Tuesday he will auction off his prize medal and donate the proceeds to aid Ukrainian refugees.
Dmitry Muratov, editor of the independent Novaya Gazeta and a frequent critic of the government of President Vladimir Putin, made the offer even as his newspaper comes under growing pressure from the regime over its coverage of the month-old invasion of Ukraine.
“Novaya Gazeta and I decided to donate the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal to a fund for Ukrainian refugees,” Mr. Muratov said, according to a report in the English-language Moscow Times. “… I ask for feedback from auction houses that will auction off this world-famous award.”
Like many foreign broadcast and print outlets operating in Russia, Novaya Gazeta has had to drastically scale back its coverage of the war after Mr. Putin earlier this month signed a new law criminalizing “false information” about the Russian military. The newspaper has suspended direct reporting on the war and deleted its early stories posted online.
Mr. Muratov dedicated his Nobel Prize to journalists at his newspaper killed in the line of duty, and said in December he was donating his portion of the prize’s cash award to charity.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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