Attacker throws acid in star’s face
Bolshoi artistic director ambushed on way home
MOSCOW— A masked attacker threw acid in the face of the artistic director of Russia’s prestigious Bolshoi Ballet, endangering his eyesight, in what was reportedly the culmination of two weeks of intimidation.
Sergei Filin, a former lead dancer at the Bolshoi who has held the high-pressure job at the heart of Russian culture for nearly two years, was attacked outside his Moscow apartment building as he returned home on Thursday night.
Theatre director Anatoly Iksanov said Filin told him that the attacker called his name before throwing acid on his face.
“There are very serious burns on his face, in his ears, on his forehead, his mouth, and of course there are serious concerns about his eyesight,” Iksanov said Friday.
Channel One television said doctors were “trying to save his eyesight,” but Interfax news agency reported he had undergone successful surgery and a complete loss of eyesight was not expected.
Filin, his face covered in bandages, told REN TV about the attack: “I was scared. I thought he was going to shoot me, honestly . . . and I turned to run but he chased me down.”
Filin, 42, had reported having his car tires slashed and his emails hacked in recent weeks.
Alexei Ratmansky, Filin’s predecessor in one of Russia’s most admired (and envied) jobs, said the attack was “no coincidence.”
In a Facebook posting, he called the Bolshoi a “revolting sewer” plagued by hangers-on, ticket scalpers and “half-crazed fans ready to chew through the throats of their idols’ rivals.”