MOSCOW - Pavel Dmitrichenko, a soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to ordering an acid attack that nearly blinded the troupe's artistic director. The man accused of carrying out the attack admitted his guilt but said he had been acting alone.
That man, Yuri Zarutsky, 35, pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit assault because he alone had mixed and used a caustic mixture of acid and urine in the January attack, Russian state media reported.
Mr. Dmitrichenko, 29, said in March during a taped interrogation that he had authorized the assault on the artistic director, Sergei Filin, but “not to the extent that it occurred.†The attack exposed bitter rivalries among the world-famous ballet company, and Mr. Filin has not fully recovered despite 23 surgeries to restore his eyesight.
On Tuesday, Mr. Dmitrichenko told the court that “I never asked Zarutsky to carry out an attack on Filin and cause serious harm to his health.†A man suspected of being the getaway driver, Andrei Lipatov, also pleaded not guilty.
All three men could receive a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison if convicted.
