Dmitry Muratov

Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov (born 29 October 1961) is a Russian journalist, television presenter and the editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Maria Ressa for "their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace."

Muratov co-founded the pro-democracy newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993 with several other journalists. He was the newspaper's editor-in-chief from 1995 to 2017, and again assumed the position in 2019. The newspaper is known for its reporting on sensitive topics such as governmental corruption, human rights violations, electoral fraud, police violence, and other misuses of power.

As editor-in-chief he was a vocal advocate for an independent press[4] and published articles by Anna Politkovskaya that scrutinised the Putin administration. Muratov helped to create "the only truly critical newspaper with national influence in Russia today", according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. On 28 March 2022, the newspaper announced that it would suspend its online and print activities after it received a second warning from Roskomnadzor.

In April 2022, the second-largest Norwegian media group Amedia announced it was handing over its four printing houses in Russia worth some 4 million Euro to Muratov, as it was ceasing its business activities in Russia. (Wikipedia, 2022)

Later, in June 2022, Dmitry Muratov auctioned his Peace Prize medal to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees for $103.5m (£84.5m), shattering the record for a Nobel.

“I was hoping that there was going to be an enormous amount of solidarity,” Muratov said after the sale. “But I was not expecting this to be such a huge amount.”

UNICEF has already received the funds destined to support vulnerable children and their families.

(The Guardian, June 2022)