 The federal military response to the invasion was slow, and the efforts were initially fumbling and disorganized.As a result, all of the early resistance, and much of the later resistance, was undertaken by Dagestani police, spontaneously organized citizen militias, and individual Dagestani villagers.Basayev and Khattab were not welcomed as "liberators" as they had expected; the Dagestani villagers considered the invading force occupiers as unwelcome religious fanatics.