Former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic. Biography

Ratko Mladic is a former commander of the General Staff of the Republika Srpska Army and one of the key figures of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found him guilty of the Srebrenica genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war and sentenced him to life imprisonment. On August 27, it became known about Mladic's death in The Hague at the age of 84. Who the former general was, how he ended up at the head of the Bosnian Serb army, and for what crimes he was convicted — in the Izvestia article.

From officer of the Yugoslav Army to General

Ratko Mladic was born on March 12, 1942 in the village of Bojanovici in the Kalinovik region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His father, a member of the partisan movement, died in 1945. In the late 1950s, the family moved to Belgrade, where Mladic received a military education. In 1961, he entered the Academy of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), and in 1965 began his professional service.

In the 1980s, Mladic held command positions in Skopje, Ohrid and Stipe, and was promoted to colonel in 1988. Against the background of the collapse of Yugoslavia, his career accelerated: in 1991, he served in Pristina, then was sent to the 9th corps of the JNA in Knin, Croatia. In October, Mladic became a major general, and in December he became the head of the corps. By the beginning of the war in Bosnia, he was already a general with experience commanding a large military unit.

Why did the war in Bosnia start?

A brief context is needed to understand Mladic's further crimes. Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the six republics of Yugoslavia and had a mixed population: before the war, about 43% of the inhabitants were Bosnian Muslims, 33% were Serbs and 17% were Croats. Therefore, the collapse of the federation quickly escalated the issue of the future of territories inhabited by different ethnic groups.

In February–March 1992, a referendum on independence was held in the republic, which the majority of Bosnian Serbs boycotted. However, most of those who voted supported secession from Yugoslavia, and in April Bosnia and Herzegovina received international recognition. After that, the conflict escalated into a full-scale war.

Government forces, the Bosnian Serb army and Bosnian Croat formations participated in the fighting. Alliances between the parties changed, and by 1994, Bosniaks and Croats stopped the war with each other and once again began to jointly resist Serbian forces. In 1992-1995, according to the ICTY, more than 100,000 people died and about 2 million were forced to leave their homes.

How Mladic led the Bosnian Serb army

In the spring of 1992, the UNA effectively ceased to exist in its former form. Mladic was promoted to Lieutenant General, and the next day was appointed Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the JNA 2nd Military District in Sarajevo. Later, in May 1992, the Assembly (Parliament) of Bosnian Serbs appointed him commander of the General Staff of the newly created Army of the Republika Srpska — VRS.

In the context of Republika Srpska, we are talking about the Bosnian Serb territory inside Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its political leader during the war was Radovan Karadzic, and Mladic became the main military leader. After the war, Republika Srpska was preserved by the Dayton Accords as one of the constituent parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mladic's general staff managed the corps of the SRS, received daily combat reports, developed operational directives and maintained contact with the political leadership of the Bosnian Serbs. Corps commanders were directly subordinate to the Commander of the General Staff. Mladic remained in this position at least until November 8, 1996.

The Siege of Sarajevo

One of the main episodes of the Bosnian war was the long-term siege of Sarajevo. The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina remained under the control of the Government of the country, but a significant part of the surrounding heights was in the hands of Bosnian Serb forces. This allowed the use of artillery and sniper positions against the city.

The ICTY found that from May 1992 to November 1995, the VRF forces conducted a campaign of artillery and sniper attacks aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population of Sarajevo. The Court noted that civilians were fired upon in the course of their normal daily lives — on the streets, in public transport, while hiking for water and groceries. Some parts of the city have become notorious as permanent snipers' work areas.

The Court concluded that Mladic had made a significant contribution to the organization and conduct of this campaign. He was found guilty of murder, terror and unlawful attacks on civilians. According to the ICTY Prosecutor's office, more than 10,000 people died during the siege of Sarajevo.

The Srebrenica murders

In July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army occupied Srebrenica, a UN—declared safe zone where tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims and peacekeepers, including the Dutch contingent, were stationed.

After the fall of the city, about 25,000 women, children and the elderly were taken out of the enclave. Men and boys were separated from their families, detained, and transported to execution sites. As a result, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed.

The court established Mladic's direct role in the operation. Back in March 1995, he signed an order providing for the expulsion of the Bosnian Muslim population from the enclave, and after the capture of the city, he participated in meetings where his further removal was discussed.

The ICTY concluded that Mladic shared the intention to destroy the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica by killing men and boys and forcibly removing the rest of the population. For this episode, he was found guilty of genocide. At the same time, the court did not consider the charge of genocide in six other municipalities of Bosnia in 1992 to be proven.

Capture of UN peacekeepers

Another episode among Mladic's crimes occurred in the spring of 1995, when NATO carried out airstrikes against Bosnian Serb military installations. The HRW forces captured the UN staff and held them, trying to prevent the attacks from continuing. The initial ICTY indictment referred to the capture of 284 peacekeepers; some of the hostages were placed near facilities that could become aviation targets.

In the final verdict, the court recognized that Mladic participated in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at taking UN personnel hostage to prevent NATO strikes. He was also found guilty for this episode.

The end of the war and the international search

The war in Bosnia ended in the fall of 1995: peace agreements were initialed in Dayton, USA, on November 21, and officially signed in Paris on December 14. They kept Bosnia and Herzegovina a single state and put an end to the main fighting.

By this point, Mladic was already an international defendant. The ICTY first charged him in July 1995, and after the fall of Srebrenica in November of the same year, additional charges of genocide were brought against him and Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic. In July 1996, the Tribunal issued an international arrest warrant for them.

However, it was possible to detain the general only after almost 16 years. After the war, Mladic stayed in Serbia for a while and then went into hiding. In May 2011, Serbian security forces found him at his relatives' house in the small village of Lazarevo in northern Serbia. He did not resist arrest. Mladic was handed over to the International Tribunal and taken to the UN detention center in The Hague.

Life sentence

Mladic's trial began on May 16, 2012 and lasted for more than five years. In the final version of the charges, he was charged with two episodes of genocide, five crimes against humanity and four violations of the laws and customs of war.

Later, on November 22, 2017, the ICTY found him guilty on 10 of 11 counts. In addition to the genocide in Srebrenica, there were cases of persecution, extermination, killings, deportation and forced displacement of the population, terror and illegal attacks on civilians in Sarajevo, as well as hostage-taking by UN staff. Mladic was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The former general did not admit guilt and tried to get the verdict overturned. In July 2021, the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals upheld the main conclusions of the court and the life sentence. After that, the verdict became final.

Last years and death

Mladic spent the last years of his life imprisoned in The Hague. His health condition has repeatedly deteriorated. According to Serbian media, he suffered several strokes, and his relatives sought permission to transfer him to Serbia for treatment. On August 27, 2026, it became known about the death of Ratko Mladic in The Hague. He was 84 years old.