Ratko Mladić, the notorious Bosnian Serb general associated with some of the most horrific war crimes in recent European history, has passed away at the age of 84. He famously commanded military forces responsible for the most brutal massacre on the continent since World War II.
Nicknamed the “Butcher of Bosnia,” Mladić spent his final moments in a hospital in The Hague, Netherlands, as confirmed by officials from the U.N. court.
Following a lengthy period as a fugitive, Mladić had been in detention since 2011. His arrest came after being charged with numerous war crimes committed during the bloody conflicts that tore apart the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
In 2017, the court handed him a life sentence for his crimes, sealing his fate behind bars.
Serbian General Ratko Mladić is pictured beside a United Nations flag at Sarajevo Airport on May 17, 1993. Mladić took his final breath on Thursday. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Mladić was one of the most notorious figures in the conflict that left more than 100,000 people dead and displaced more than a million others.
Under his command, Bosnian Serb troops took control of large swaths of Bosnia and Herzegovina and laid siege to the capital of Sarajevo and other cities. His forces detained non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers in concentration camps and systematically slaughtered prisoners.
Despite the charges levied against him, Mladić never showed remorse. In court, he yelled at the judges when he was sentenced.
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Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladić speaks to soldiers near the Bosnian town of Cazin Sept. 4, 1994. (AP Photo/Radivoje Pavicic)
“He was murdered there, in those dungeons,” Janko Seslija, a former Bosnian Serb soldier, told The Associated Press. “I feel sorry for Gen. Mladić. He was an honorable man, honorable soldier and commander.”
A former Communist-era military officer, Mladić sided with the Serbs as Yugoslavia broke apart and disintegrated into war. He led a Serb insurgency in Croatia before taking over the Bosnian Serb army, according to The AP.
Among the horrors Mladić was charged with was the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, which was supposed to be a safe zone guarded by Dutch peacekeepers.
A mural of former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladić was vandalized with paint in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Mladić seized the town and assured the Muslim children that everything would be fine. Hours later, his troops began days of rape, torture and mass killings.