Newspaper headlines: 'Putin's revenge' and Prigozhin's death 'no surprise'

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, makes the front of the Financial Times in camouflage and with weapon in hand. The broadsheet reports Russian officials saying Prigozhin was aboard a plane from Moscow to St Petersburg that crashed. The FT writes all 10 people on board died, according to Russia's emergency ministry. The paper rehashes a quote from CIA chief Bill Burns last month: "In my experience Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback."

The i highlights that the Wagner chief was killed 60 days after a failed mutiny he led against the Russian armed forces in June. The front carries a picture appearing to show the private jet on fire.

The Guardian also carries the photo of smoke billowing from the crash site. It says the cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but the failed mutiny led by Prigozhin would give the Russian state ample motive to take action against him. The paper adds media channels linked to the Wagner group suggested a Russian air defence missile shot down the plane. Elsewhere, the Guardian reports more than 100 MPs have enjoyed free tickets to concerts and sporting events worth over £180,000. It observes critics think the free tickets could leave MPs open to influence from the companies providing the giveaway and question its appropriateness during a cost of living crisis.

"What rotten luck," says the Daily Star. It writes no one at all is shocked at Prigozhin's death and he joins dozens of Putin foes to "perish in terrible 'accidents'". The paper also reports explorers have found a cave system linked to Loch Ness "making it the perfect hideout" for the famous mythical beast said to occupy it.

The Daily Express also splashes on a picture of the crash scene. It writes Prigozhin "appears to have paid the ultimate price". It also says the NHS trust where Lucy Letby murdered babies has paid over £325,000 for public relations advice on the crimes.

The Daily Mail asks: "Was this Putin's terrible revenge?" The paper says security sources are pointing the finger at the Russian president. The Mail also covers former NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose is set to receive a £2.4m payout after resigning following the row over Nigel Farage's bank account.

"Putin's revenge" headlines the Daily Mirror. The paper reports it is thought the Russian president put the Wagner boss on a "kill list" weeks ago. It adds that locals say they heard two bangs before the crash.

"Wagner boss who crossed Putin 'killed' in jet crash," headlines the Times.

The Telegraph leads with UK security sources believing Prigozhin was killed in an assassination by Putin. They told the paper the aircraft had almost certainly been downed by the FSB, Russia's domestic intelligence agency.

The Sun headlines "Putin's revenge". It writes there were still reports the Wagner boss could still be alive after travelling on a second plane.

"India over the Moon," headlines the Metro as it reports on the country becoming the first to land in the lunar south pole region. A picture of the live simulation of Chandrayaan-3's lander on the Moon's surface covers the front page. The paper writes the nation is only the fourth to land successfully on the Moon.

"Putin's Revenge" is the headline in both the Daily Mirror and the Sun. They show burning wreckage of a plane that was believed to be carrying the leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group. The Sun says Yevgeny Prigozhin's death was announced on Russian state television, noting it is two months since he led a mutiny against Vladimir Putin. The Mirror says it is believed the Russian leader put his former ally on a "kill list" weeks ago and ordered his execution.

The Daily Telegraph says it has been told by UK security sources that the jet was "almost certainly" shot down by the Russian domestic intelligence agency, the FSB, on the president's orders. One source tells the paper: "Of course, it's Putin." It adds that the Wagner chief had returned from Africa the previous day and a social media channel with close links to Wagner reported that local residents had heard "two bursts" of air defence weapons. The Daily Mail's report include a theory that a bomb was concealed in a case of fine wine that was carried on to the aircraft "moments before take-off".

Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed to have died in a plane crash on Wednesday

Several papers, including the Times, report speculation that Prigozhin may have been on a separate aircraft he owned that landed safely in Moscow a short time later. But the paper also includes a detail that the jet came down around 30 miles from one of Putin's official residences, which has its own air defence system. The paper's diplomatic editor, Roger Boyes, says the use of air defences would be a "very public and emphatic" way of closing down his rival. Others, he says, have been "slipped poison or fallen out of windows" but this was "the opposite of stealth assassination".

The reports in the Daily Express and the Daily Star strike a similar tone that no one will be shocked or surprised that a man who challenged the Russian president would pay what the Express calls the "ultimate price".

The Guardian report critics have questioned how appropriate it is for MPs to accept hospitality freebies in a cost of living crisis

The Guardian's front page also includes a look at the number of MPs enjoying corporate giveaways, such as tickets to concerts and sports events. It says more than a hundred MPs, including senior Conservative and Labour figures, have accepted free hospitality this summer worth more than £180,000. The freebies come from banks, oil companies, the gambling industry and media firms. Critics tell the paper it could leave MPs open to influence from those providing the benefits. Accepting hospitality is not against the rules for MPs, provided anything above £300 is registered within 28 days.

Under the headline "baton and bruised" The Times reports that a world-renowned conductor has been accused of slapping a member of his choir for entering the stage incorrectly. Sir John Eliot Gardiner, who is 80, is alleged to have struck 29-year-old William Thomas after a performance at the Berlioz Festival in France on Tuesday. The paper says it has raised questions about whether the conductor can perform at the BBC Proms next month. A representative of Gardiner told a classical music website he had been suffering from extreme heat and that a change in his medication "may have provoked behaviour that he now regrets".