Chechen warlord Salman Raduyev was sentenced to life imprisonment for a hostage-taking of several thousand people in 1996 in the Russian republic of Dagestan. Raduyev rose to prominence with the operation, in which 3,000 people were seized in the Dagestani town of Kizlyar. 200 people -- including 78 Russian soldiers -- are estimated to have been killed in the fighting.
These are the guys the NY Times and Washington Post described as "freedom fighters" and condemned the Russians for trying to wipe out. |