Support The Moscow Times!

Real Organizer of Acid Attack Still Unknown, Bolshoi Director Says

Pavel Dmitrichenko haz.de

The Bolshoi Theater's general director said he believes that dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, who last week confessed to ordering an attack on the theater's ballet director, Sergei Filin, was only an "executor and a pawn in someone else's hands."

In an interview Sunday night on Rossia 1 television, Anatoly Iksanov said the recent hacking of email accounts at the theater, threats against artists and the Jan. 17 acid attack on Filin are all part of an orchestrated campaign against the Bolshoi Theater.

In recent days, dancers in the ballet troupe and even Filin himself have also expressed skepticism regarding Dmitrichenko's role in the attack, which has become a black eye for the world-renowned theater.

Filin's lawyer Tatiana Stukalova said Monday that they would push for the "harshest punishment" for Dmitrichenko and the other two men accused in the attack. But, she said, Filin thought it was possible that Dmitrichenko was hiding the name of the "real puppeteer" who ordered it.

The three suspects in the attack, who include a driver and a man accused of throwing sulfuric acid on Filin's face, face up to 12 years in prison.

Dmitrichenko said in court last week that one of his co-defendants, Yury Zarutsky, had volunteered to beat up Filin, and Dmitrichenko agreed. He denied ordering Zarutsky to throw acid on Filin's face.

Other dancers at the Bolshoi have expressed doubts that Dmitrichenko could have organized such an attack and have implied they think the police pressured him into confessing.

They spoke out to investigators at a meeting after the arrests, but investigators told them that they had "solid proof of Dmitrichenko's complicity in the attack," according to Interfax.

Confirmation of the meeting was given to the news agency by Bolshoi soloist Nikolai Tsiskaridze, one of the key figures in the unfolding drama who was a rival of Filin and a mentor to Dmitrichenko's girlfriend, Angelina Vorontsova.

In an interview to Ekho Mosvky radio last week, another Bolshoi soloist, Andrei Bolotin, said that "all members of the troupe disbelieve that Dmitrichenko could have done this."

Contact the author at i.nechepurenko@gmail.com

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more