Bolshoi Ballet's star dancer admits planning acid attack on director

A star dancer with Russia’s famed Bolshoi Ballet has confessed to organising an acid attack that almost blinded the company’s artistic director, Sergei Filin.

Pavel Dmitrichenko told police he planned the January assault on Filin, but had not intended it to be as serious as it was. Investigators said a man called Yuri Zarutsky had admitted to hurling the sulphuric acid into Filin’s face outside his apartment block in Moscow. A third man, Andrei Lipatov, was arrested on suspicion of acting as Zarutsky’s getaway driver.

“I organised this attack, but not to the degree to which it happened,” Dmitrichenko (29) said in comments shown on Russian television. Dmitrichenko said he had told police the motivation for the attack.

Russian media cited sources at the Bolshoi saying Dmitrichenko’s partner, ballerina Anzhelina Vorontsova, had been turned down for major parts by Filin. There was no suggestion she was involved in the attack on Filin, who is recovering in Germany. Soon after the assault, Filin said he knew who was behind it, but would not publicly reveal their identity.

The incident has exposed divisions at the Bolshoi, including a feud between general manager Andrei Iksanov and one of its best-known dancers, Nikolai Tsiskaridze. They have accused each other of fuelling a poisonous atmosphere within the troupe.Tsiskaridze – who denies any role in the acid attack – has been coaching Vorontsova.