Ratko Mladić, the former general of the Bosnian Serb army, has died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in a United Nations prison hospital in The Hague. Mladić was found guilty in 2017 of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995.

His conviction centered largely on his leadership during the Srebrenica massacre, which resulted in the deaths of over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys. This event is widely recognized as the worst act of bloodshed on European soil since the Second World War. While most outlets report his death as a matter of record, the SCMP notes that Mladić had been suffering from health issues, including several strokes, in the months leading up to his death. The report of his passing was initially attributed to Serbian state broadcaster RTS.

There is slight variation in the reporting of his age, with some sources citing 84, while others focus primarily on his military title and the nature of his crimes. The legacy of Mladić remains a deeply polarizing subject, with international courts viewing him as a primary architect of ethnic cleansing, while some nationalist factions in the region have historically viewed him as a defender of the Serb people. His death marks the end of a long-running legal process that sought to hold high-ranking officials accountable for the atrocities committed during the collapse of Yugoslavia.