Russia Detains Dancer in Bolshoi Acid Attack
Source: NYT
By ELLEN BARRY
Published: March 5, 2013
MOSCOW — Police officials in Moscow on Tuesday detained a dancer at the Bolshoi Ballet and two suspected accomplices in connection with an acid attack in January on the company’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, a crime that gripped Moscow and left one one of Russia’s most revered institutions in turmoil.
Investigators said they believed the dancer, Pavel Dmitrichenko, hired two men to accost Mr. Filin outside his apartment building late on Jan. 17. As Mr. Filin punched in an entry code, the police said, a masked man called his name and tossed the contents of a jar of sulfuric acid at his eyes.
The crime set off weeks of soul-searching in this ballet-mad city, especially because Mr. Filin said he was sure he had been attacked over a professional grudge. Detectives worked their way through the ranks of the ballet, becoming so immersed in their investigation that they began asking Mr. Filin for tickets, he said in a recent interview.
Mr. Dmitrichenko’s name had not been raised publicly as a potential suspect. A theatrical, athletic dancer, he is a fierce advocate of classicism in the Bolshoi’s repertoire. He is also romantically linked with a ballerina in the company, Anzhelina Vorontsova, whose supporters blame Mr. Filin for stalling her career. Neither Mr. Dmitrichenko nor anyone representing him commented on Tuesday.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/world/europe/russia-detains-suspect-in-bolshoi-ballet-acid-attack.html