Serbian Patriarch Porfirije on September 7 led the funeral service for Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, at the Church of St. Luke the Apostle and Evangelist in Belgrade, according to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The church was closed to general visitors during the ceremony, while thousands of mourners gathered outside to pay their respects. Tens of thousands of people reportedly traveled to Belgrade from Republika Srpska and other parts of the region.

Mladic’s relatives, former military colleagues and representatives of Serbia and Republika Srpska attended the service. Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko was also present, alongside senior Serbian and Bosnian Serb political figures.

Among those attending were Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik, Republika Srpska President Sinisa Karan, Serbian politician Aleksandar Vulin and Serbian Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic.

Following the funeral service, Mladic was buried at Topcider Cemetery in Belgrade, where his daughter had previously been laid to rest. His body was brought to Belgrade on September 3, following his death in a United Nations detention facility in The Hague.

Mladic, who lived from 1942 to 2026, was one of the most prominent and controversial figures of the Bosnian War of the 1990s. He commanded the Army of Republika Srpska during the conflict and remained in hiding for years after the war ended.

Serbian authorities arrested him in 2011 and transferred him to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. In 2017, the tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. An appeals chamber upheld the conviction in 2021.

In his funeral address, Patriarch Porfirije spoke about the Christian understanding of death, forgiveness and the importance of praying for the deceased. He also stressed that Mladic’s life could not be separated from the broader context of the Bosnian War.

“Today we stand before a life that cannot be separated from a terrible time — from a terrible war, great suffering, deep wounds and traumas, lost homes, lives and graves,” Porfirije said.

The patriarch called on worshippers to pray not only for Mladic but also for all those who died during the conflict. He emphasized that the Church does not make a final judgment on a person’s ultimate fate, leaving that judgment to God.

Outside the church, mourners held portraits of Mladic and flags and other symbols associated with Republika Srpska. The large turnout reflected the continued support for Mladic among sections of the Serb population, while his legacy remains deeply contested because of the atrocities and mass suffering associated with the Bosnian War.