‘Ivan the Terrible’ did it: Police
Bolshoi soloist accused in plot against ballet chief
MOSCOW— A Russian ballet star who has danced the roles of violent and powerful historical figures at the Bolshoi Theater has confessed to organizing the acid attack on the theatre’s ballet chief, Moscow police said Wednesday.
A masked man threw a jar of sulphuric acid in the face of artistic director Sergei Filin as he returned home late on Jan. 17, severely burning his eyes. The 42-year-old former dancer is undergoing treatment in Germany. Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko, 29, confessed to masterminding the attack, and two other men confessed to being the perpetrator and the driver of the getaway car, police said in a statement. All three were to appear in court Thursday, when prosecutors were to move for criminal charges to be filed against them.
“I organized that attack but not to the extent that it occurred,” a bleary-eyed Dmitrichenko said in footage released by Russian police. Moscow police said in a statement that investigators believe that Dmitrichenko harboured “personal enmity” against Filin. The attack threw light on a culture of deep intrigue and infighting at the famed Moscow theatre. Within hours of the attack, Bolshoi managers were speculating that the attack could have been in retaliation for Filin’s selection of certain dancers over others for prized roles. Dmitrichenko, who joined the Bolshoi in 2002, has not suffered for starring roles. Most recently, he danced the title role in Ivan the Terrible, a ballet based on the life of the ruthless 16th century czar who killed his son in a rage. He also has danced Spartacus in the ballet of the same name. Dmitrichenko’s page on the social networking site VKon-takte includes a photograph of him as the leader of the slave uprising dancing with a dagger in each hand. Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend, who also is a Bolshoi soloist, is reported to have had a troubled relationship with Filin and felt she was unfairly denied major parts, an angle to the case that has been played up by Russian state television. Filin’s lawyer and wife, however, both cautioned that the ballerina is unlikely to have been the only cause of the conflict.
“Sergei thinks the motives of the crime are somewhat different,” Filin’s wife, Maria Prorvich, was quoted as telling the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. “The girl is only a pretext, but certainly not the main cause of the crime.”
She said Filin had suspected Dmitrichenko’s involvement in the attack, but is certain that the circle goes beyond the three men arrested on Tuesday.
Filin’s lawyer agreed. “We believe that investigators still have a lot of work to do to establish all of the facts,” Tatyana Stukalova said on Rossiya state television.
Investigators became suspicious of Dmitrichenko when they found out that he had recently been in close contact with an unemployed man with a prison record. The suspects were making inquiries about Filin’s schedule and whereabouts, and bought SIM cards for mobile phones registered under fake names, police said.