Russian editor auctions Nobel medal to raise money for Ukraine refugees

Dmitry Muratov’s newspaper closed in March due to the criminalisation of critical reporting on the Ukraine war. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

The editor of the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta is auctioning his Nobel peace prize medal, with the proceeds to go to helping children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

Dmitry Muratov led one of the last major independent media outlets critical of Vladimir Putin’s government after others either closed or had their websites blocked after the invasion of Ukraine. In March, Novaya Gazeta announced it was suspending operations for the duration of the war after it became a crime to report anything on the conflict that veered from the government line.