Artist Pyotr Pavlensky, held for setting the doors to Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation ablaze, has reportedly had his ribs broken by a guard at the prison where he is being kept.  “Every breath gives me pain,” Pavlensky wrote in a letter.  (more…)

The charges against Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky for igniting the doors of the FSB Headquarters have been changed by prosecuting investigators from vandalism to “damaging a cultural heritage site.”  The artist himself has been asked to be tried under charges of terrorism.  (more…)

Pyotr Pavlensky, the Russian dissident and artist who last year set fire to the doors of the Federal Security Service in Moscow, has reportedly been sent to Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry for evaluation.  The center has a reputation for diagnosing political activists as insane during the Soviet era.  “The Investigative Committee wants to demonstrate that I am crazy,” Pavlensky said in an interview several months ago. “And to show their own craziness, I do what they want, but my way.” (more…)

Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who previously gained notoriety for nailing his genitals to Red Square in Moscow, for torching the wooden doors of the FSB security service building.  The artist could face at least 5 years in prison for the act.  “I think it will be a criminal case, everything points to that. It’s hard to say what charge: anything can happen in our country,” his lawyer said. (more…)