Margarita Simonyan

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Simonyan was born in Krasnodar into an Armenian family, both sides descendants of Armenian refugees from the Ottoman Empire. Her father's family, originally from Trabzon, settled in Crimea during the Armenian genocide of 1915 and were later deported by Stalin's NKVD to the Urals. Her mother was born in Sochi to an Armenian family that fled massacres by Turks in the late 19th century. Simonyan has described herself as both Armenian and Russian. She decided at an early age to become a journalist, first working for a local newspaper and then for a local television station while studying journalism at Kuban State University. In 1995, she spent a year as an exchange student in Bristol, New Hampshire, under the FLEX Program. As a correspondent, she covered the Second Chechen War and severe flooding of the Krasnodar region, receiving an award for "professional courage." In 2002, she became a regional correspondent for Russia's national Rossiya television channel and covered the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis. She was one of the first correspondents to arrive, witnessing the killing of 334 people, 186 of them children. She told an interviewer "It was the worst thing that ever happened to me," and that she 'cried frequently' while trying to write about it. At age 25, she was appointed editor-in-chief of Russia Today (now RT) in 2005. She stated that RT's intent was to have a "professional format" like the BBC, CNN and Euronews that would "reflect Russia's opinion of the world." She later told The Moscow Times that RT started to grow once it became provocative and that controversy was vital. On 31 December 2013, she was cross-appointed as editor-in-chief of the new government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya. In 2010, her first book, *Heading to Moscow!* was published. In 2018, she wrote the script for *The Crimean Bridge. Made with Love!*, a film directed by her husband Tigran Keosayan; it attracted scathing reviews and was the lowest-rated film on several film review aggregators.

Reader's Guide

Margarita Simonyan is a central figure in Russian state media and propaganda, serving as editor-in-chief of both RT and Rossiya Segodnya. Her career illustrates the integration of journalism with state messaging in modern Russia. Appointed at age 25, she has been a Kremlin loyalist close to President Vladimir Putin. Her outlets have been criticized in the West for bias and for promoting Russian government narratives. In April 2022, Simonyan proposed removing the article on the prohibition of censorship from the 1993 Russian Constitution, stating that freedom of speech would lead to "the collapse" of Russia and calling for emulating China, a "non-free but prosperous country." During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, she expressed support, tweeting "This is a standard parade rehearsal, It's just that this year we decided to hold the parade in Kyiv." She opposed anti-war protests, stating "If you are ashamed of being Russian now, don't worry, you are not Russian." On 26 March 2022, she made multiple unsupported assertions on NTV, including claims that Ukrainian doctors called for Russian prisoners to be castrated and that Ukrainian "Nazis" were "prepared to pluck children's eyes out based on their ethnicity." On 26 April 2022, discussing the possibility of World War III, she said, "Personally, I think that the most realistic way is the way of World War III... We're all going to die someday." Her sanctions by multiple Western nations underscore her perceived role in information warfare and election interference.

Did You Know?

• Simonyan spent a year as an exchange student in Bristol, New Hampshire, in 1995 under the FLEX Program.
• She witnessed the Beslan school hostage crisis, where 334 people were killed, including 186 children, and said it was 'the worst thing that ever happened to me.'
• At age 25, she was appointed editor-in-chief of Russia Today (now RT) in 2005.
• In 2018, she wrote the script for the film *The Crimean Bridge. Made with Love!*, which became the lowest-rated film on several review aggregators.
• In April 2022, she proposed removing the constitutional article prohibiting censorship, arguing that freedom of speech would lead to 'the collapse' of Russia.