Russian performance artist nails himself to Red Square cobblestone by his TESTICLES in protest at Kremlin's crackdown on rights

Footage shows Pyotr Pavlensky sitting naked outside Lenin's Mausoleum

Passers-by watched as he nailed his testicle to the pavement



Police covered him with a blanket before taking him to the nearest station

Pavlensky previously sewn his lips together to protest against the jailing of members of Pussy Riot punk band



A Russian performance artist stripped naked and nailed his testicles to a Red Square cobblestone

in protest against the Kremlin's crackdown on political rights.

Eye-watering footage shows artist Pyotr Pavlensky sitting naked outside Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow, Russia, before police covered him with a blanket.



The state-run RIA Novosti news agency said Pavlensky was taken to a police station after being

treated in a central Moscow clinic.

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Ouch: Police move crowds away from Pyotr Pavlensky who nailed his testicles to a cobblestone

The Saint Petersburg-based artist said in a statement posted on the Grani.ru website that he was trying to draw attention to Russian society's development into a 'police state'.

Russia marked its annual Police Day holiday on Sunday.

It is not the first time the 29-year-old has resorted to dramatic methods of protest.

He has previously sewn his lips together to demonstrate against the jailing of two female members of the Pussy Riot punk band who staged an anti-Kremlin performance inside Moscow's main cathedral in 2011.