Bolshoi dancer arrested over acid attack

The interior ministry said Pavel Dmitrichenko, a Bolshoi soloist who is to dance in Sleeping Beauty this month, was suspected of plotting the attack that left Sergei Filin (42) with severe burns after a masked assailant threw acid in his face.

Police also said they detained a man suspected of carrying out the attack and another thought to have driven him to the crime scene outside Mr Filin's apartment on January 17th.

The attack shocked a country used to violent settling of scores, shining the spotlight on infighting at one its top cultural institutions. The involvement of one of its star dancers is likely to deepen the sense of crisis at the Bolshoi.

Seeking motive

A police source said investigators had evidence Mr Dmitrichenko, who has played the villain in Swan Lake and the lead in Sergei Prokofiev's Ivan the Terrible, had ordered the attack but that they were still seeking his motive.

Life News, a Russian website with close ties to the police, said the suspected attacker, Yury Zarutsky, and his driver, Andrei Lipatov, were found by tracking mobile phone calls made from the crime scene.

The Bolshoi Theatre's spokeswoman, Katerina Novikova, could not be reached for comment on Mr Dmitrichenko's detention but said earlier yesterday, after a search of his apartment, she knew of no dispute between him and Mr Filin.

She looked irritated and became defensive when addressing the possibility of divisions in the company, saying: "I think the Bolshoi Theatre troupe is waiting for Sergei's return, and loves him and wishes him a speedy recovery."

Mr Filin almost lost his eyesight after the attack. He received treatment in Moscow, and doctors say he is now recovering well in Germany.

But the Bolshoi is under intense scrutiny after the most shocking of several incidents that revealed the torrid hidden workings of the world-famous ballet company.

The assault on Mr Filin intensified an already-bitter feud between the Bolshoi's general manager, Anatoly Iksanov, and another of its high-profile dancers, Nikolai Tsiskaridze. In a recent interview, Mr Iksanov accused Mr Tsiskaridze "of putting psychological pressure on the theatre's staff and management, on Filin, on myself and teachers".

The Bolshoi Theatre - founded in 1776 by Empress Catherine the Great - has been dogged by scandal in recent years.

This has included the resignation of a deputy ballet director when explicit images of him appeared on the internet, and corruption claims surrounding its lavish €500 million renovation.

(Additional reporting: Reuters)