Bolshoi acid attack: Pavel Dmitrichenko confesses to assault on Sergei Filin
A leading dancer at the Bolshoi Ballet has confessed to ordering an
acid-throwing attack on the artistic director of the troupe, exposing a
bitter backstage clash at one of the world’s greatest theatres.
Pavel Dmitrichenko, who is known for his powerful performance in the role of Ivan the Terrible, admitted arranging the January 17 assault on Sergei Filin, who was left with severely damaged eyes and chemical burns after a jar of sulphuric acid was tossed in his face.
There was speculation that the soloist arranged the attack in revenge for Mr Filin allegedly denying major roles to Mr Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend, Anzhelina Vorontsova, a 21-year-old ballerina at the Bolshoi Theatre.
The assault stunned Russia’s art world and has dominated newspaper headlines for weeks.
Mr Dmitrichenko, 29, looked dazed and bleary-eyed in video footage released by police in Moscow on Wednesday. “I organised that attack but not to the extent that it occurred,” he said. It was not possible to immediately confirm that the confession was not given under duress.
Mr Filin, 42, has undergone a series of operations on his eyes and face and is currently being treated at a clinic in Germany. He earlier described how he tried to alleviate the agonising pain in the moments after the acid hit him, falling to his knees and pressing snow into his eyes. The lone attacker had approached him as he punched in an entry code at his home in Moscow’s Troitskaya Street.
Police arrested two other men near Moscow on Tuesday: Yury Zarutsky, 35, a recidivist who is said to have carried out the attack at Mr Dmitrichenko’s bidding, and Andrei Lipatov, 31, who allegedly drove the assailant to the scene of the crime.
Mr Zarutsky acquired the acid from an auto-repairs shop in Moscow region and then increased its concentration through evaporation. Mr Lipatov denies any knowledge of the crime, saying he only drove Mr Zarutsky where he asked to go.
The group had monitored Mr Filin’s movements and communicated using mobile phones registered under false names on the night of the attack, police said. Detectives later traced their calls from the area.
Mr Dmitrichenko was arrested after police searched his parents’ apartment, which is in the same complex as the home of Mr Filin.
The shaggy-haired dancer has worked at the Bolshoi since 2002, featuring in the title role in Spartacus and as the Evil Genius in Swan Lake. He was to reprise his leading role in Ivan the Terrible, to music by Serge Prokofiev, in April but will now be replaced by another dancer.
The state-controlled NTV channel said Mr Dmitrichenko had a reputation as a volatile character, and showed archive footage of the dancer demonstrating a tattoo on his right forearm reading “Life is struggle, to struggle means to live”. “That’s my motto,” the soloist explained.
A Moscow police spokesman said: “The motive for the crime was the hostile personal relations [of Mr Filin] with Dmitrichenko, connected to his professional activity.”
There was speculation in Russian media that the attack was linked to disagreements between Miss Vorontsova and Mr Filin, who had allegedly turned down the young ballerina for the role of Odette in Swan Lake.
Miss Vorontosva is a student of Nikolai Tsiskaridze, the premier dancer who has a long-running conflict with the management of the Bolshoi.
Mr Filin, a former dancer who became artistic director of the troupe in 2011, has not commented on the arrests. Asked last month if he knew who carried out the attack, he said: “My heart knows who did it, and in the depths of my soul I have an answer to that question.”
However, he admitted this was only “an idea” and refused to name the person publicly.
The Bolshoi hopes Mr Filin will return to his post in time for a series of summer shows at London’s Royal Opera House to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bolshoi’s first visit to Covent Garden.
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