The article presents the data of a qualitative politico-psychological study accomplished by the end of 2012: the study focuses on the swings that had taken place in the perception of V.Putin and of his rivals within a year after the 2012 presidential elections. One can see that along with a general growth of citizens’ critical attitudes toward the authorities, the perception of V.Putin improved in many aspects. For all that, some negative traits are pronounced regarding his image, too (both the very same that had been marked before the elections, and quite new ones), but the gap between V.Putin and the other former candidates continues to widen.