Only three months after an acid attack on the Bolshoi Ballet's artistic director, trouble has surfaced at the Bolshoi Theater once again.
Unknown burglars broke into the downtown Moscow apartment of a Bolshoi ballerina and robbed her of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry, Interfax reported Thursday.
The ballerina, Ellina Bochkareva, returned home on Wednesday to find the lock of her front door broken and the door open. The 24-year-old dancer immediately called the police.
Police determined that the burglars made off with 10,000 euros in cash and about $2,000 worth of jewelry, with the total damages amounting to about 500,000 rubles ($15,700).
It will be difficult to track down the thieves because the apartment building where Bochkareva lives is not equipped with a video surveillance system, however, and police sniffer dogs quickly lost track of the burglars, the report said, citing the police.
Detectives will now compile a list of the stolen jewelry and hope that some of the items turn up in pawnshops and jewelry stores to give them a lead to the thieves.
The Bolshoi Theater has frequently been in the spotlight since its artistic director, Sergei Filin, was splashed in the face with acid in an attack on Jan. 17. One of the theater's top male ballet dancers, Pavel Dmitrichenko, has admitted to plotting the attack amid bitter infighting at the Bolshoi and faces up to 12 years in prison on charges of inflicting serious bodily harm. He has denied that he ordered the use of acid, however.
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