Bolshoi Ballet Embroiled in Acid Attack Scandal

Did dancer attempt to blind artistic director?

The Bolshoi Ballet says the allegations swirling around one of its dancers—that he choreographed an attack to blind the artistic director—are "absurd."

Even an alleged confession in the case does nothing to convince the cast and crew that Pavel Dmitrichenko could be behind the attack that severely burned and nearly blinded Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi employees said in an open letter Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, the history of our country and our society knows many examples" when results were achieved by "illegal methods, and evidence and proof often turned out to be a fiction," the letter said.