The Bolshoi ballet dancer charged with ordering the acid attack on the troupe's artistic director was not the ultimate mastermind, the theatre claimed Monday after police said they had wrapped up their investigation. "We have doubts that Pavel Dmitrichenko was the final mastermind of the attack on Sergei Filin. The leadership of the Bolshoi Theatre feels the same," theatre spokeswoman Katerina Novikova told the Interfax news agency.

A Moscow district court remanded leading Bolshoi Theatre dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko in custody until April 18 over the acid attack on the ballet troupe's artistic director Sergei Filin. The judge at the Tagansky district court in Moscow ruled that Dmitrichenko had to stay in custody until the end of the initial investigation period, rejecting a petition by the defence for him to be released on bail. sjw/am/yad

A leading Bolshoi Ballet soloist has confessed to ordering the acid attack on the artistic director of the world famous dance company and risks up to 12 years in jail, Moscow police said Wednesday. Pavel Dmitrichenko, one of the company's leading male dancers, signed a confession along with two other suspects who were all arrested on Tuesday in a dramatic denouement to the investigation into the January attack on Sergei Filin.

A leading Bolshoi Ballet soloist has confessed to his involvement in the acid attack on the artistic director of world famous dance company Sergei Filin, Moscow police said Wednesday. One of the company's leading male dancers Pavel Dmitrichenko, the suspected mastermind of the January attack, signed a written confession along with two other suspects who were all arrested on Tuesday. "The motive of the crime was the hostile personal relationship Pavel Dmitrichenko had with Sergei Filin, which was linked to their work," police said in a statement.