Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief known as the “Butcher of Bosnia” for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, has died in the United Nations detention centre in The Hague. He was 84 years old and had suffered several strokes in recent months.

Mladic was serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity related to the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The conflict resulted in approximately 100,000 deaths and displaced 2.2 million people. Under Mladic’s command, Serb forces executed 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, a UN-protected enclave, marking Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II.

Serbian state officials and Mladic’s family had appealed for his release due to his deteriorating health, but these requests were rejected by The Hague tribunal.

Mladic was a key military figure alongside political leaders Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic during the violent breakup of former Yugoslavia.

The death was reported by Serbian state broadcaster RTS and Belgrade's Informer TV.

Sources