The Russian editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta has auctioned off his Nobel Peace Prize medal for $103.5 million, BBC reported.

Dmitry Muratov said all the money from sale will go to help refugees from the war in Ukraine.

Muratov was co-awarded the peace prize in 2021 for defending freedom of expression in Russia.

Novaya Gazeta suspended its operations in March, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This came after Moscow said anyone who described Russia's actions in Ukraine as a "war" would face heavy fines or closures.

Heritage Auctions, which conducted the sale, has not revealed who the winning bidder was.

In April, Muratov was attacked with red paint laced with the solvent acetone aboard a train in Russia.

He was among a group of journalists who founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Since 2000, six journalists from the newspaper and collaborators have been killed in connection with their work, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya.