Strelkov says he sold his medal for annexation of Crimea
Former Defense Minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Igor Girkin (Strelkov) sold the medal for the annexation of Crimea.
According to Strelkov, the medal for the annexation of Crimea was presented to him by the Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev.
"I recently sold it because of the material difficulties that every honest person in Russia has," the former defense minister said in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon.
The fact that Strelkov put the medal, received “in memory of the reunification of Crimea with Russia in the spring of 2014”, up for sale, became known in March 2019. The starting price of the lot on the website of the special numismatic firm "Coins and Medals" was 1 million rubles ($13,812 USD).
The description of the lot stated that the AU750 gold medal is a non-state award of the St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation, which was given to those who made the "greatest personal contribution to the return of Crimea to Russia."