Ukrainian Olympian Auctioning Off Silver Medal, Donating Money To War Efforts

Ukrainian Olympic gymnast Ruslan Mezentsev is auctioning one of his most precious belongings -- his silver medal -- and donating all the money to his home country ... so they have money to fund the fight against Russia.

Mezentsev competed in the men's artistic all-around competition in Sydney in 2000 ... personally taking part in the floor exercise, pommel horse, and still rings.

Ruslan scored a total of 28.725 ... bringing the team's total to 230.306, good enough for a silver medal. The Ukrainians finished just 1.613 points behind China ... who won the gold.

Now, that silver medal is on the auction block at RR Auction ... where it already has 8 bids. The current price is $3,000 ... but expect that to rise!

Mezentsev -- who's now 41 years old -- is from a town called Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine.

RR says not only will all of the money from the sale be donated to the war funds ... but even the buyer's premium (the money that typically goes to the auction).