A Russian journalist is auctioning off his Nobel Peace Prize medal to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees

• Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov is auctioning off his medal to help Ukrainian refugees.
• The funds raised from the auction in New York on June 20 will go to UNICEF's humanitarian efforts.

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, one of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winners, is auctioning off the gold medal he received to raise funds for Ukraine.

Muratov was the editor-in-chief of the now-censored Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. He won the Nobel prize alongside fellow journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines for "their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace."

Muratov is now following through with his pledge in March to donate the medal to Ukrainian refugees after calling for an auction house to help him put the item up for sale.

Muratov's medal has been listed by Heritage Auctions, and its auction will be held on June 20 in New York.

"One successful bidder will walk away from this auction with a gold medal representing Mr. Muratov's life's work and sacrifice. Still, it is his wish that EVERYONE participates by donating what they can to UNICEF," read the listing.

All the proceeds from the sale of the medal will go to UNICEF's humanitarian efforts for Ukrainian children displaced by the war, per the listing.

"The goal is to use this event to foster awareness of refugee crises and for the giving to continue long after the auction on June 20th," the listing read.

The New York Times reported that the $500,000 in prize money awarded to Muratov would be disbursed to several charities on top of the funds from the auction.

Speaking to The Times, Muratov said that the auction was "an act of solidarity" with the people of Ukraine in light of Russia's invasion of the country. He said he was inspired by Danish physicist Neils Bohr, who also put his own medal for the Nobel Prize in Physics up for auction to raise money for the Finnish war against the Soviet invasion in 1939.

"If we look at the number of refugees, we basically have World War III, not a local conflict," Muratov told The Times. "This has been a mistake, and we need to end it."