A Russian Communist party activist carries a portrait of late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin during a May Day rally in Moscow on May 1, 2017

Russians have picked Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as the greatest figure in history, a new poll said Monday, beating President Vladimir Putin into joint second alongside poet Alexander Pushkin.

In the poll conducted in April by the Levada Centre independent pollster, Russians were asked to pick the ten greatest individuals of all time.

Stalin came out on top with 38 percent, while Putin shared second place on 34 percent with Russia's beloved national bard Pushkin.

Revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Tsar Peter the Great and first man in space Yury Gagarin came next in the list of 20 people, with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in last place on six percent.

The list includes famed statesmen, writers and scientists but only three foreigners: Napoleon Bonaparte, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Newton.

Stalin topped a similar poll back in 2012 with an even higher score as Russians focus on his role in winning World War II rather the millions who were executed or sent to prison camps under his rule.

Putin's percentage was the highest since he began appearing in the poll in 2003.