Bolshoi director attacked
Moscow – An unknown attacker has thrown acid in the face of the artistic director of Russia’s prestigious Bolshoi Ballet, endangering his eyesight, in what police and colleagues said today was the culmination of a two-week campaign of intimidation.
Sergei Filin, a former leading dancer at the Bolshoi who has been in the high-pressure job at the heart of Russian culture for nearly two years, was attacked outside his Moscow apartment building as he returned from the theatre yesterday.
Anatoly Iksanov, director of the Bolshoi, said he believed the attack was a product of envy or rivalry.
Filin, 42, had already reported having his car tyres slashed and his emails hacked, as well as receiving nuisance phone calls.
Iksanov said Filin had told him he believed he had been followed home, and that the attacker called him by name before throwing acid in his face.
‘‘There are very serious burns on his face, in his ears, his forehead, his mouth, and of course there are serious concerns about his eyesight,’’ he said.
Ekho Moskvy radio said Filin had suffered third-degree burns, and doctors believed it would take him at least six months to recover. Channel One television said doctors were ‘‘trying to save his eyesight’’.
Bolshoi spokeswoman Yekaterina Novikova said Filin would be flown to a specialist burns centre in Brussels today after an urgent operation on his eyes.
The Bolshoi, which has both ballet and opera troupes, reopened last February after a six-year renovation of its landmark colonnaded building, close to Red Square in the centre of Moscow.
As a symbol of Russian culture for more than 200 years, it is a big draw for both locals and foreign tourists, and has seen power struggles among dancers and directors throughout its history.
After the tightly controlled three-decade tenure of Yuri Grigorovich ended in 1995, the Bolshoi went through five artistic directors before Filin’s appointment in March 2011.