MOSCOW - Svetlana Lunkina, a prima ballerina at the Bolshoi Ballet, has told the newspaper Izvestiya that she is afraid to return to Russia because she has been the subject of blackmail and threats, apparently related to a business dispute involving her husband. Her claim has no evident connection to an acid attack on Sergei Filin, the ballet’s artistic director, that took place two weeks ago and left severe burns on his eyes and face.
Six months ago she left Russia for Canada, amid a deepening conflict between her husband and a partner in a film that would have told the story of the ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska, who was the lover of the future Nicholas II, Russia’s last czar. She said that letters damaging her reputation had been sent to the word’s leading ballet companies and that her personal email had been hacked. A Bolshoi spokeswoman confirmed that Ms. Lunkina has been granted leave for the season.
Mr. Filin’s eyes have been bandaged since the attack, but his wife said he was able to make out the top four lines on a vision chart, according to the newspaper Evening Moscow. Mr. Filin’s attorney, Tatyana Stulakova, said on Wednesday that his family members have been assigned bodyguards.
