MOSCOW, March 6 (RAPSI) – Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko, Yuri Zarutsky and Andrei Lipatov convicted for an attack on the ballet's artistic director Sergei Filin on Thursday asked the Moscow City Court to mitigate the imposed sentence, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Sergei Filin sustained third-degree burns to his face and eyes in the acid attack in January 2013.

On December 3, Dmitrichenko was convicted for masterminding the attack and sentenced by the Meschansky District Court of Moscow to 6 years in prison. The court ruled that other defendants in the trial – former convict Zarutsky, who carried out the attack, and driver Lipatov – only did the jobs that had been assigned to them by Dmitrichenko.

Zarutsky received a 10 year sentence, while Lipatov was sentenced to four years in jail. Dmitrichenko and Lipatov had pleaded not guilty, while Zarutsky claimed he planned and carried out the attack on his own.

The court also ordered the defendants to pay Filin 3.5 million rubles ($96,994) in compensation for medical costs and moral damage. The defense of the defendants appealed the verdict. Dmitrichenko's attorney Sergei Kadyrov asked to revoke the sentence and define his acts as battery.

Zarutsky insisted that his sentence should be reduced due to the fact that he has a child and has pleaded guilty. Dmitrichenko asked for a suspended sentence and Lipatov asked the court to acquit him.

Filin returned to Moscow last September after six months of treatment in a German hospital. He has undergone more than 20 eye surgeries, and German doctors said that his eyesight had improved significantly.