Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, led a campaign of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian conflict. His forces were responsible for widespread atrocities, including the siege of Sarajevo and the massacre in Srebrenica.
Mladic's military actions were part of an effort to cleanse Bosnia of non-Serb populations. In the summer of 1995, tens of thousands of Bosniak civilians were gathered in Srebrenica, a town in eastern Bosnia that had been declared a United Nations "safe area." Bosnian Serb troops bombarded the town with heavy shells and rockets. Mladic entered Srebrenica surrounded by television camera crews five days later.
During the conflict, NATO launched fighter attacks and cruise missile strikes on Mladic's positions around Sarajevo, which helped to break the siege. However, his campaign of ethnic cleansing continued.
Mladic reportedly struggled to cope with personal tragedy, including the suicide of his daughter Ana. She took her own life with his favorite gun, a decision Mladic attributed to conspiracy theories rather than acknowledging his own role.
Images from the conflict depict the severe human cost of Mladic's campaign, with scenes of emaciated prisoners in Bosnian Serb camps and grieving families mourning victims. His actions have been widely condemned as war crimes.
