The gruesome attack on artistic director Sergei Filin is the latest in a series of scandals surrounding the world-famous Russian ballet company.
Sergei Filin, artistic director of the renowned Bolshoi Ballet, suffered severe injuries when a masked man threw acid on his face and eyes outside his Moscow home Thursday night.
Image by Mikhail Metzel, File / AP
A spokeswoman for the Bolshoi told press that Filin had received threatening phone calls for weeks. His tires had been slashed several times, and earlier in the month his email and Facebook page had been hacked.
Filin in 2007.
Image by Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
Filin, who suffered third-degree burns on his face and neck, underwent eye surgery Friday morning. Bolshoi assistant director Anatoly Iskanov told press there was "grave concern" that Filin might lose his eyesight.
Sergei Filin, artistic director of Russia's prestigious Bolshoi Ballet, gestures during an interview in a still image from footage shot by REN TV in a Moscow hospital.
Image by Handout / Reuters
The artistic director will undergo two more surgeries this week. Filin told a Russian newspaper Tuesday that the acid hit his right eye and caused serious damage but doctors have "promised to save his left eye."
Sergei Filin in Giselle. July 18, 2000.
Image by Kathy Willens, File / AP