Top Russian ballet star Sergei Filin is receiving hospital treatment for severe burns after a masked man attacked him with acid in Moscow.

The artistic director of the famed Bolshoi Theatre, was walking home on Thursday (17Jan13) when an unidentified assailant threw the acid in his face and ran off.

Filin, who is now in a stable condition, suffered third degree burns in the incident and doctors are now fighting to save his eyesight.

A spokesman for the Bolshoi claims Filin, who was appointed artistic director in 2011, had been receiving mystery threats for several months.