MOSCOW: The Bolshoi Ballet's artistic director, wearing dark glasses but saying he felt well, left a Moscow hospital on Monday to have treatment in Germany after an acid attack that damaged his eyes and face.

Sergei Filin, 42, said before checking out of the hospital that he knew who was behind last month's attack and made clear he believed it was linked to his work at Russia's prestigious Bolshoi Theatre.

"I feel well, I'd even say great, if only my eyes could see a bit better. But I can say I feel well," he told reporters as he left, wearing a netted bandage across the lower part of his face.

Filin told Russian state television before leaving the hospital that he forgave his masked attacker, who splashed acid in his face outside his Moscow apartment as he went home on Jan. 17.

Asked if he knew who had attacked him, he said in the television interview: "Every person has an organ called a heart, and my heart knows who did it, and in my soul I have an answer to that question."

Filin had been one of the most talked about figures in Russia as head of the ballet for nearly two years when he was attacked. He said the attack followed repeated threats and may have been motivated by rivalry or resentment.