Pavlensky has attracted attention before, carrying out extreme acts which he says are created to poke holes in the Kremlin’s propaganda machine and draw attention to society’s problems.
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Two journalists who watched were questioned before being released, reported the Dozhd independent channel, whose journalist was at the scene.
A Russian artist faces charges of “vandalism” after setting fire to the main wooden entrance door of the Federal Security Service building (former KGB headquarters) on Lubyanka Square in central Moscow early on November 8. Investigators have visited the site.
Pavlensky’s attorney, Olga Chavdar, confirmed to several Russian news agencies that her client was detained.
Pavlensky has been arrested numerous times on hooliganism charges.
Mr Pavlensky described the act of arson as “a slap in the face of the terrorist threat the FSB makes with methods of constant terror and holding power over 146 million people”.
The FSB headquarters, which take up an entire block, were used by Soviet-era secret police for interrogations and killings. Previous year he sliced off one of his earlobes to protest against the return of repressive Soviet-era policies. Unnamed law enforcement sources confirmed Pavlensky’s detention, saying he could be charged with petty hooliganism, an offence that usually carries a fine and a jail term of up to 15 days. “The threat of inevitable retribution hangs over everyone who finds themselves within the reach of surveillance, of having their conversations eavesdropped on, and at the borders of passport control”.
In another protest he cut off his ear lobe while naked and wrapped himself in barbed wire in front of the St. Petersburg Assembly.
That, he said, was to protest against the apathy and indifference of the Russian public.
Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova praised “wonderful Pyotr and his performance” on Facebook.
Pavlensky has been ordered to undergo psychiatric tests in the past but doctors determined him to be sane.
Last February Pavlensky and his accomplices burned vehicle tyres, waved Ukrainian flags and banged sheet metal with sticks in a show of solidarity with the anti-government protesters in Ukraine.
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In his arguably most shocking performance, Pavlensky in 2013 nailed his scrotum onto the cobbles of the Red Square. A couple of years ago, during the infamous Pussy Riot trial, Pavlensky literally sewed his mouth shut to protest the trial that was going on in Moscow.
