On January 9, 1996, Raduyev, allegedly copying Shamil Basayev's 1995 Budyonnovsk attack in Chechnya, led a large-scale Kizlyar hostage taking raid into the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan, where his men took at least 2,000 civilians hostage. The raid, which made Raduyev world-famous, escalated into an all-out battle that ended with the complete destruction of the border village of Pervomayskoye, and led to other Chechen leaders criticizing the attack. In March 1996, Raduyev was shot in the head and incorrectly reported dead; Russian special forces claimed to have "killed" him in revenge for the Kizlyar attack, while the other sources said he was shot in a Chechen feud. On March 7, 63 out of 101 deputies of the Parliament of Estonia sent condolences to Dudayev expressing "deep sympathy with the Chechen people" on "the loss of commander Raduyev," sparking a row with the Russian Duma. In fact, Raduyev just disappeared as he went for medical treatment abroad.