Bolshoi ballet director health improving

German doctors say the health of the Bolshoi Ballet’s artistic director Sergei Filin, who undergoes treatment in Germany after being nearly blinded in an acid attack last month, is improving, the chief ophthalmologist of the Russian Health Ministry said Tuesday.

“As far as I know, he has positive dynamics,” Vladimir Neroyev said. “German ophthalmologists performed another operation on him, and a specialist from our institute assisted.”

Filin, 42, was taken to hospital on January 17 with third-degree facial burns and eye injuries after a masked assailant near his home splashed acid over his face.

Filin has said the attack might be connected to a scandal involving his predecessor, who resigned in 2011 after pornographic images apparently showing him were published on the internet.

Neroyev said Filin would regain vision, “but probably not 100 percent.”

In a recent interview with the BBC, Filin said he knew who was behind the attack, but refused to give any names before the official investigation announces its findings. If found and convicted, the attacker faces up to eight years in prison for inflicting serious injuries.