Ratko Mladic passes away

Photo: Profimedia/Peter Dejong/AFP

Former commander of the Army of the Serb Republic (VRS) Ratko Mladic died today, August 27, at the age of 84, in the detention unit in Scheveningen, his family has confirmed.

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Mladic died in the afternoon, in the custody of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts.

Ratko Mladic was born on March 12, 1942 in the village of Bozinovici near Kalinovik. He graduated from the KoV Military Academy and the Command and Control Academy of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) as one of the best in his class. He started his professional career in Skopje in 1965, and during his service advanced to the rank of general lieutenant in 1992.

In the summer of 1991, he became the commander of the 9th Corps of the JNA in Knin, where he participated in the conflicts in Croatia. After the formation of the VRS in May 1992, he was appointed the commander of the General Staff, which he headed until 1996.

He commanded numerous military operations carried out by Serb forces during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued the first indictment against him in July 1995.

The VRS under Mladic's command attacked Srebrenica on July 6, 1995, and after five days, on July 11, captured the city. According to the ICTY, after the capture, more than 8,000 Bosniak (Muslim) men were killed. Around 36,000 women and children were deported from the city and transported by bus to Kladanj, which was under Bosniak control.

(Telegraf.rs)