Simonyan’s Ordeal and Dugin’s Message of Divine Struggle

Faith in the midst of the battle

As Margarita Simonyan undergoes surgery, Alexander Dugin frames her ordeal as both trial and testimony, invoking the saying that God tests those He loves.

Alexander Dugin sent words of support to Margarita Simonyan. Today, the editor-in-chief of RT faces surgery; last week she was diagnosed with a serious illness. “There is a saying,” said Dugin.

Dugin posted his message on his Telegram channel. He emphasized that the life of Margarita Simonyan has been far from easy — on the surface, one success after another, one victory after another, yet tragedies coming one after the next.

“Perhaps that is the nature of life itself: we rise into the sky, only to crash into the depths of the earth — so that we might rise again,” Dugin noted. He added: “Right now, Margarita, who stands on the very front line of our civilization, defending it as best she can with all her strength, is enduring a difficult trial. Misfortune struck her husband Tigran Keosayan, and now Margarita herself has been diagnosed with a grave illness and must undergo surgery. A serious ordeal.”

However, Dugin continued, “there is a saying”:

Whom God loves, He chastises. Usually no one understands this. They think it is said only for consolation. No, absolutely not, it is not for consolation. This is the nature of God’s love. Nothing is heavier, nothing more beautiful. God presses us under His divine heel, like grapes, in order to draw from our souls something greater and more precious. Dear Margarita, all of us are with you now, with our hearts and souls. These are not words. This is something much, much more. We believe in you — you are needed by all of us. Overcome this illness, for we still have many battles ahead. Battles that we will, of course, win. Thanks to you, to your courage, and to all of us together.

What happened to Margarita Simonyan?

The day before, Margarita Simonyan announced her illness live on air, speaking directly to her audience. She also stated that her husband, Tigran Keosayan, has been in a coma for nine months. His condition remains gravely serious. How long Simonyan herself will remain in the hospital will depend on the outcome of her surgery. Now, in her own words:

Coming out — you know how they say it in America…

I thought long and hard about whether to come on air or not. And here I sit, with a medal on my chest. I came anyway. I have many state decorations; I never wear them publicly. I always feel both proud and awkward when I receive them. Because, of course, when you have been working for 25 years in the system, in one way or another within the structures of state power, always in the public eye — it is relatively easy to get such a medal. Much easier than for a stoker in Nevinnomyssk or a nurse in Labytnangi, who probably deserve these medals just as much, perhaps even more, with their selfless work.

But this medal is Orthodox, and that means a great deal to me, that the Church took notice. Yesterday, the Patriarch gave it to me. When I was already sure I would not come on air today, and perhaps never again, the Patriarch took my hand and said to me: ‘You are a warrior.’ Because he said that to me, I felt it my duty to come on air today and tell the truth. Because it is always better to speak the truth yourself than to let the audience feed on rumors, which will inevitably spread through channels and gossip sites. I must tell the truth, and I must encourage those who are going through the same truth.

You, of course, know that my husband, Tigran Keosayan, has been lying in a coma in the hospital for nine months now. When trouble comes, it comes in waves. In our house the floodgates have been blown away by the storm of fate. Since we last met on air, in just this past week, I myself was diagnosed with a terrible, grave illness. Tomorrow I will have surgery, right here, beneath the spot where this medal rests on my chest. I came anyway, because the Patriarch said that I am a warrior. I came to support the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters who are now waiting for their loved ones to return from the front.