Ratko Mladić, the convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," has died aged 84 in a United Nations prison at The Hague on Thursday, August 27th, 2026.

Mladić was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995. After the Bosnian war, he evaded capture for 16 years until being found in rural Serbia in 2011 and subsequently put on trial at The Hague. His sentence was upheld on appeal in 2021.

He was receiving palliative care in the hospital of the UN jail at The Hague at the time of his death. Earlier in May 2026, a UN court rejected a bid for his release from jail despite acknowledging his "dire" health condition, ruling that he was receiving "comprehensive and compassionate treatment".

This development marks the end of a long judicial process addressing some of the gravest crimes committed during the Yugoslav conflicts.

Sources