Moscow police detained three suspects over the acid attack on the Bolshoi Theatre’s artistic director Sergei Filin, including the organizer. They all have already signed statements admitting their part in the crime.

      Police investigators named the three as the Bolshoi Theatre’s solo dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, the suspected mastermind; the actual attacker Yury Zarutsky and Andrei Lipatov, who drove him to the crime scene.

      “The motive for the crime lies in Filin’s hostile relations with Dmitrichenko connected to his work,” a police spokesman said on Wednesday, but did not elaborate. Dmitrichenko was one of the leader ballet dancers, a soloist in many Bolshoi Theatre's ballets, including the role of the tsar in "Ivan the Terrible".

      A masked assailant splashed concentrated acid into the face of 42-year-old Filin, the Bolshoi’s artistic director, on January 17 in Moscow and fled the scene. Filin suffered third-degree burns to his face and eyes. He is currently undergoing treatment in Germany.