Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov said he still...

Defending his decision, Luzhkov said though he was not a Stalin apologist, the billboards reflected "objective history."

Stalin has not been present in Moscow"s Victory Day decorations for decades, but his name still provokes strong arguments in Russia.

Between the 1930s and 1950s millions of people were executed on false charges of espionage, sabotage and anti-Soviet propaganda or died of starvation, disease or exposure in labor camps.

According to official statistics, 52 million people were convicted on political charges during Stalin"s regime.

However, many people believe it was Stalin"s leadership that pulled the Soviet Union through its darkest hour and freed Europe from the tyranny of Nazism.

MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti)