A dancer at Russia’s Bolshoi ballet, who made his name playing villains, has confessed to ordering the acid attack that nearly blinded its director, angry that his lover was being kept out of leading roles.

I organised this attack, but not to the extent that it happened

Pavel Dmitrichenko, who has danced the crazed monarch in Ivan the Terrible and the villain in Swan Lake, was detained on Tuesday for a crime that shocked Russia and blackened the reputation of the world-famous theatre.

Haggard and unkempt, Dmitrichenko was shown in a police video confessing to plotting the attack, in which a masked man threw a jar of sulphuric acid in the face of artistic director Sergei Filin late on January 17.

“I organised this attack, but not to the extent that it happened,” he said, apparently meaning he did not intend the attack to go so far.

Two other men who had no known connection to the Bolshoi also confessed in the video released by police. One said he had thrown the acid at Filin and the other that he had driven the getaway car.

A source at the Bolshoi confirmed media reports that the outspoken dancer was angry that his partner, ballerina Anzhelika Vorontsova, had missed out on top roles including the lead in Swan Lake.

“Filin certainly squeezed out Vorontsova, but that is not a reason to throw acid in someone’s face,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Before flying to Germany for treatment last month to save his sight, Filin, 42, said he believed he knew who was behind the attack and that he thought it was connected with his work. He is recovering and is expected back at work this summer.

The management of the Bolshoi had been hoping none of the ballet company was involved in the attack. The theatre is now in turmoil.

Dmitrichenko, born in Moscow to a family of dancers, had been at the Bolshoi since 2002 and was to dance in Sleeping Beauty this month.

He could face jail and the end of his dance career. He and the two other accused are due to appear in court today.

An aide to Filin suggested Dmitrichenko had identified with the characters he played.

“That Dmitrichenko constantly threatened everyone as though he really were Ivan the Terrible or (Swan Lake’s) evil genius – roles he played with depth and clear pleasure... is without doubt,” said a dancer.

In a recent interview with Vechernyaya Moskva newspaper, Dmitrichenko praised Ivan’s rule, under which the Russian empire expanded across Asia.