Thousands of mourners, including government ministers and Serbian Orthodox Church leaders, gathered in Belgrade for the funeral of Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb army commander convicted of genocide and war crimes.

Mladić, who commanded Bosnian Serb forces during the 1990s Bosnian War, was responsible for atrocities including the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre, where his troops carried out "ethnic cleansing" against non-Serbian populations. He was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021 after a nine-year trial.

Despite his conviction, Mladić remains a figure of national pride for many Serbs, particularly in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gašić and Minister of Justice Nenad Vujić were among officials who paid tribute. The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, stated that Mladić's name would be "deeply etched in the memory and prayers of the majority of our Serbian Orthodox people."

Mourners, some draped in flags bearing Mladić's image, queued for hours to pay their respects at the church where his coffin lay in state. Free bus services were organized from Serbia and Bosnia to facilitate attendance.

Mladić's coffin was transported to Serbia on a government plane and carried from the aircraft by soldiers. Fans of the football club Red Star Belgrade also displayed a tifo in his honor before a match.

However, the funeral has also reignited painful memories for victims and survivors of the war. Zdravka Gvozdjar, whose son was killed during the siege of Sarajevo, called the funeral "horrible" and stated Mladić should be remembered as a "butcher," not a hero. Daniella Peled, an editor at the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, noted that while the war crimes tribunal provided a detailed record of Mladić's crimes, Serbian media and education have not adequately reflected the scale of his actions or the perspectives of victims. She added that "pro-government Serbian media" often portray him as a loyal soldier, making it challenging for post-conflict societies to acknowledge past crimes.

The European Union had previously warned Serbia against glorifying the convicted war criminal.