Dmitry Muratov, the Russian editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, has auctioned off his Nobel Peace Prize medal for a record $103.5m to help Ukrainian children displaced by the war.
The gold medal was sold to an as yet unidentified phone bidder at the sale in New York, which was organised by Heritage Auctions.
The sale was spirited, with lots of applause and bidders egging one another on to increase the total. Muratov was seen recording videos of the bidding screen and those in the room.
When the final bid came in, at tens of millions of dollars more than the previous offer, many in the room expressed shock, including Muratov himself.
“I’m just like you in that regard,” he told the Agence France Press news agency, speaking through a translator after the sale. The previous high for the auction of a Nobel medal was just under $5m, according to media in the United States.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
