Why does the Russian president allow himself to ignore the tragedy so blatantly?

Izvestiya

"The reflexes of the Russian elite have not changed in the last 10 or 15 years ... The first thing they want to do is to conceal the truth," the leading daily Izvestiya said on its front page.

It listed what it said were the lies, inconsistencies and cover-ups over the timing of the disaster, casualties, oxygen supplies, causes, the situation on board and the rescue operation.

Noting the government admission that no acoustic signals had been heard from the Kursk, it said President Putin "sent no 'acoustic signals' until Wednesday, after which he confined himself to describing the situation as critical".

"Then the Russian and world press rose up to ask: Why does the Russian president allow himself to ignore the tragedy so blatantly?"

'Serious defeat'

Mr Putin is heading for "serious political defeat" for failing to cut short his Black Sea holiday, Komsomolskaya Pravda said.

"Will Putin assume responsibility for underestimating the disaster, for procrastinating, for naval commanders' lies?" it asked.

Putin is facing savage press criticism

"It's unlikely - Putin has not been known for suicidal behaviour."

A former nuclear submarine commander pointed the finger at Mr Putin in a letter published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

"The Russian president is our commander-in-chief. It is ... Putin who will shoulder the moral responsibility for the death of the crew."

Brick wall

Trud compared the last-ditch rescue operation to "bashing your head against a brick wall".

"Russia is still powerless when confronted by 107 metres of depth," Izvestiya concurred.

Everything possible is being done to conceal the consequences of the catastrophe

Izvestiya

"At one time Russia reached space. But rescuing people underwater has never been a prestigious job for this country. Or rescuing people in general."

Total secrecy

Izvestiya said lies and misinformation were gradually being replaced by unprecedented secrecy "unseen even in Chechnya".

"Everything possible is being done to conceal the consequences of the catastrophe," it said, adding that Murmansk was "full of secret police agents".

Moskovsky Komsomolets noted that an official briefing on Friday lasted just four minutes because the Northern Fleet spokesman refused to answer any questions.

Poignant letters

Komsomolskaya Pravda published a series of brief and very emotional articles about the crew and their families, quoting correspondence from before the disaster.

"I want to serve on a submarine until retirement," senior petty officer Rishat Zubaydullin wrote to his mother in a letter received on 17 August.

The parents of seaman Nikolay Pavlov got a letter from their son on 12 August, the day of the disaster. He wrote: "We have been put on standby, so we will not go to sea in August."

The next day, Nikolay's parents were told his son had been transferred to the Kursk.

Roman Martynov joined the Kursk straight from hospital. He wrote to his mother: "We will spend three days at sea, but don't worry mum."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.