Police: Dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, 2 others, confessed to Bolshoi acid attack

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MOSCOW, March 6 (UPI) -- Bolshoi Theater dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko and two other men admitted to their roles in the acid attack on the theater's artistic director, Moscow police say.

Dmitrichenko, the company's lead solo dancer, signed a statement confessing he was the mastermind behind the assault on Sergei Filin, RIA Novosti said.

Filin suffered burns to his face and eyes when a masked man threw sulfuric acid at him outside his apartment Jan. 17.

Filin has undergone several surgical procedures to save his eyesight and is receiving follow-up treatment at a clinic in Germany.

RIA Novosti said Yury Zarutsky admitted he carried out the actual attack at Dmitrichenko's behest while Andrei Lipatov said he drove Zarutsky to the crime scene.

"The motive for the crime lies in [Filin's] hostile relations with Dmitrichenko connected to his work," a police spokesman told the Russian news agency Wednesday.

No other details were immediately available.