Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic Dies In UN Custody

Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, who was convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, has died, according to reports from Serbia.

Mladic, 84, died on Thursday, August 27, 2026, while serving his sentence at a United Nations detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands. Serbian broadcaster RTS and other local media reported that he died after suffering several strokes.

He was one of the most senior Bosnian Serb military figures during the war and commanded the Army of Republika Srpska. He was arrested in Serbia in May 2011 after spending 16 years as a fugitive before being transferred to the UN tribunal in The Hague.

Mladic was convicted in 2017 of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. The charges related to atrocities committed during the Bosnian conflict, including the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo. His life sentence was upheld on appeal in 2021.

The Srebrenica massacre remains one of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since World War II, with more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys killed after Bosnian Serb forces captured the UN-declared safe area in July 1995.

Mladic’s health had deteriorated significantly in recent years. His lawyers had sought his release on humanitarian grounds, arguing that he was suffering from serious and irreversible health problems. A UN court rejected a request for his release earlier this year.

The UN’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said Mladic’s convictions included genocide in Srebrenica, as well as persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, forcible transfer, terror, unlawful attacks against civilians and hostage-taking.

His death brings to an end the life of one of the most prominent figures convicted by international courts for crimes committed during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia.