The article focuses on practices of modern Russian media discourse contributing to the formation of the cult of Vladimir Putin. The following practices, which occur mainly in the pro-government media forming the officious ideology, were detected and described: 1) the use of the specific nomination 'national leader' emphasizing the unique status of Vladimir Putin; 2) building up his image as the star of popular culture, balancing between the ordinary and the unique; 3) the equalization of Vladimir Putin and Russia. At the same time it is shown that the practices mentioned above meet resistance mainly by the so-called opposition media. The major means of resistance are 1) critical interpretation of these practices, for example by including concepts of the official ideology into critical context; 2) an explication of the cult of personality, which is negatively perceived in Russian society.