Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the RT television network and the Rossiya Segodnya international media group, has revealed that her son Bagrat has fallen seriously ill. She made the disclosure on the Russian television programme Malakhov, a recording of which is available on the streaming platform Smotrim.
Simonyan said the child was her son with the late film director and television host Tigran Keosayan, and that he fell ill while Keosayan was in a coma.
She said she had at first been living at the hospital where Keosayan was being treated, until her son fell severely and frighteningly ill, forcing her to leave the hospital in order, as she put it, to fight for her son as well.
Who is Tigran Keosayan
Keosayan was a Russian film director and television presenter and was married to Simonyan. He spent the final eight months of his life in a coma before he died in September 2025.
Simonyan added that after Keosayan's death, their son decided to move his birthday back by a month. The date fell the day after the anniversary of his father's death, September 27, so Bagrat announced he would now celebrate his birthday in October instead.
Earlier comments on the illness
Simonyan first spoke publicly about her child's illness in March. At the time she did not specify which of her and Keosayan's children was affected, but she said the illness was incurable.
Simonyan has also spoken recently about her own health. Commenting on reports that she had beaten breast cancer, she said she was in remission, but that it would only be possible to speak of having overcome the disease after four years.
Keosayan's death last year
Keosayan died in September 2025 after a long period in a coma. Shortly before his death, Simonyan had said she was undergoing treatment for cancer.
