The Kremlin has for years pushed to rehabilitate the dictator, promoting an ultra-patriotic version of history that glosses over Soviet-era repression.

A few small Stalin busts and statues have been erected across Russia in recent years but mostly on private premises and in smaller towns.

Large Stalin depictions have, so far, been unprecedented in the heart of the capital.

The panel bearing the Georgian-born Soviet dictator, unveiled inside the central Taganskaya station, is a replica of the "People's Gratitude to the Leader and Commander".

That original was destroyed in the 1960s during the de-Stalinisation policy under Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev.

"We are restoring a lost historical bas-relief dedicated to victory in the Great Patriotic War," the Moscow metro said on May 10, using Russia's name for World War Two.

It showed the moustached dictator standing in military tunic, surrounded by children and workers who are looking at and reaching out to him.

The profile of another Russian Communist ruler, Vladimir Lenin, is depicted over Stalin.

Taganskaya station was opened in 1950, a heyday of Stalin's personality cult in the Soviet Union, and the bas-relief was a typical representation of the dictator during those times.

The reconstruction of the monument was not announced by the authorities until it was unveiled, according to Russian independent media.

In the past, busts of Stalin have sparked controversy and protests in Russia.

But since the start in 2022 of the Ukraine offensive, most rights and historical groups who denounced rehabilitating the tyrant have been banned.

The liberal Yabloko party -- which once played a major role in opposing Putin but is now marginal -- called for the replica to be removed, saying it was a "spit in the face of history" and a "disgrace".

Stalin oversaw massive repression in the Soviet Union, put millions in labour camps, resulting in mass deaths, and forced famine in Ukraine.

But the Kremlin has sought to portray him as a glorious leader who led the country to a military victory in WWII.

Stalin led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953.

President Vladimir Putin, in power since 2000, is the longest-serving Russian leader since Stalin.