It's Hard to Fathom What This Man Actually Did to Himself to Protest the 'Police State' (GRAPHIC)

Editor's note: This story contains extremely graphic descriptions.

A Russian artist stripped off his clothes in the middle of Moscow's Red Square and nailed his scrotum to the ground Sunday as an act of protest against the "police state."

Pyotr Pavlensky, 29, said in a statement before the incident that "a naked artist, looking at his balls nailed to the Kremlin pavement, is a metaphor for the apathy, political indifference, and fatalism of contemporary Russian society."

Pyotr Pavlensky nailed his scrotum to the pavement to protest the "police state." (Image source: YouTube)

According to the BBC, the stunt was timed to coincide with "Police Day."

"When the authorities turn the country into one big prison, openly robbing the populace and channeling funds to increase and enrich the police and other security agencies, society accepts arbitrariness and, having forgotten its advantage in numbers, brings the triumph of the police state closer through its inaction," Pavlensky added.

The man, who has reportedly staged protests in the past by sewing his lips shut and wrapping his nude body in barbed wire, was covered with a blanket before police took him into custody.

According to a Russian outlet, Pavlensky faces up to 15 days in jail for disorderly conduct.

You can watch blurred video of the act here, or unedited footage (WARNING: GRAPHIC)here.

--

Follow Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) on Twitter

[related]