Man Strips Naked And Nails His Own Testicles To The Ground [GRAPHIC CONTENT]

A MAN horrified tourists in Russia after he stripped, sat down and nailed his own testicles to the ground.

OUCH: The artist made the painful gesture as a protest against Russia's 'police state' [REUTERS]

According to the Daily Star, artist Pyotr Pavlensky drew gasps of shock as he hammered a nail through his scrotum outside Moscow's Red Square on Russia's Police Day national holiday.

He claims to have been protesting against the "police state" in Russia, and was later arrested after receiving treatment for his wound.

Mr Pavlensky earlier posted a statement on his website about his shocking plans.

He wrote: "The performance can be seen as a metaphor for the apathy, political indifference and fatalism of contemporary Russian society.

PROTEST: Pyotr Pavlensky shocked tourists outside Moscow's Red Square [REUTERS]

"As the government turns the country into one big prison, stealing from the people and using the money to grow and enrich the police apparatus and other repressive structures, society is allowing this, and forgetting its numerical advantage, is bringing the triumph of the police state closer by its inaction."

This is not the first time that the artist has mutilated his body to make a protest.

In 2011 he sewed his lips together after two members of punk protest band Pussy Riot were jailed for singing inside Moscow's main cathedral.

He also stripped naked and wrapped himself in barbed wire outside a government building.

His latest stunt could see him jailed for up to 15 days