The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov won for his efforts to keep freedom of expression active in Russia, under the thumb of President Vladimir Putin, was sold at auction Monday for $103.5 million, all of which Muratov vowed to help Ukrainian child refugees, the Associated Press reports.
The auction house would not identify the winning bidder, other than to say it was placed by proxy. The amount bid equals $100 million Swiss francs, which may lead to a clue.
Muratov’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper has been at the forefront of opposing Putin’s duplicity, including exposing Russian slaughters in Chechnya and other territories, as well as political corruption. A vocal opponent of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Muratov had to suspend operations of the newspaper after Putin issued a dictate barring media outlets from saying negative things about the military.