Bolshoi ballet chief maimed in acid attack to testify in Moscow at trial of alleged attackers

MOSCOW – The chief of the famed Bolshoi ballet company is to testify in Moscow at the case of a ballet star suspected of masterminding the attack on him.

Sergei Filin, who was left with severe burns to his face and eyes which impaired his vision, arrived at the court Wednesday to testify at the trial of ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko and his suspected accomplices.

Prosecutors say the 29-year-old ballet dancer colluded with ex-convict Yuri Zarutsky, who threw acid onto Filin’s face outside the ballet chief’s home on January 17. Dmitrichenko has pleaded not guilty and insisted that Zarutsky acted on his own.

The vicious attack laid bare the deep infighting among ballet stars at Russia’s most famous theatre.