Former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, Ratko Mladić, will be buried today at Belgrade’s Topčider Cemetery, following a funeral service at the Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke in Košutnjak.
Thousands of citizens gathered this morning outside the church in Košutnjak to pay their respects to Ratko Mladić. People are queuing to enter the church, where the coffin containing Mladić’s body has been displayed since 7 am today.
Citizens continue to arrive at the area around the church. As reported by RTS, people are approaching to offer condolences to the family inside the church. Parts of the roads leading to Košutnjak have been closed, and a large number of people are attempting to reach this part of Belgrade on foot. Heavy security measures have been put in place, both around the church and inside it.
A large number of veterans and former fighters from Republika Srpska are present, having arrived to pay their respects to their wartime general. Veterans and disabled war veterans from Banja Luka, Laktaši, Gradiška, Sokolac, and Višegrad are also among them.
A substantial number of foreign media crews have also arrived, given that the general was convicted of serious war crimes. In the wider area surrounding the church, a large number of coaches with registration plates from Serbia, Republika Srpska, and Montenegro are parked.
Surrounding streets are closed to traffic, and Knez Višeslav Street near the church is decorated with Serbian flags. Police officers are stationed at the intersections.
As previously announced, Mladić will be buried today at Topčider Cemetery in Belgrade, following a funeral service at St Luke’s Church in Vidikovac, where the coffin containing his remains is placed. General Svetozar Andrić, a member of the team organising Mladić’s funeral, as reported by RTRS, announced that Mladić will be buried with full military honours.
Following the funeral service, a procession is scheduled to form and head towards Topčider Cemetery, where Mladić will be buried alongside his daughter Ana. Upon arrival at Topčider Cemetery, Mladić’s coffin will be escorted to the burial plot by an honour guard, followed by a volley of gunfire and farewell speeches. Organised arrivals of people from RS and Serbia have been announced.
Following a memorial service at the Serbian Armed Forces Officers’ Club on 5 September, attended by certain high-ranking officials from Serbia and Republika Srpska – one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina – the funeral procession was announced with a gun salute and full military honours, Svetozar Andrić, a member of the funeral organisation team, told the Srna agency.
Coach transport has been organised fromRS, Serbia, and Montenegro, he added.
The coffin containing the body of Mladić, who died on 27 August at the age of 83 in a prison hospital in The Hague, is lying at the church in Vidikovac, with his military cap placed on it, surrounded by soldiers and the decorations Mladić received during his military service. The church funeral service is due to start some time around noon.
Aleksandar Botsan-Kharchenko, the Russian Ambassador to Serbia, is present in the church. Justice Minister Nenad Vujić was alongside Mladić’s family both at the memorial service and at Belgrade Airport on 3 September, when the coffin containing the body of the Hague convict was flown in from the Netherlands on a Serbian government aircraft.
When the coffin was brought off the aircraft, members of the Serbian Armed Forces took charge of it, draping it with the flags of Serbia and Republika Srpska.
Along the route from the airport to the Military Medical Academy, where Mladić’s body was taken, the cortege was greeted by dozens of people with banners on overpasses reading: ‘Heroes never die’, ‘Thank you to your mother’, ‘Welcome home, General’, and ‘Thank you, General’.
On some overpasses, flares and smoke bombs in the colours of the Serbian flag were set off.
Certain members of the police and military saluted the cortege, which included a red van carrying Ratko Mladić’s body.
What regional media are writing about Mladić’s funeral
Serbia has not declared a state funeral for Ratko Mladić, but the state has essentially done nearly everything that would accompany such an event, regional media write today, stating that the death of the war criminal could have been a final opportunity for Serbia to draw a clear line between respect for the deceased and the glorification of a man convicted of genocide with a final verdict.
The Mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and its Representative on Freedom of the Media expressed serious concern today regarding the live broadcast of the memorial service for Ratko Mladić – former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska (RS) and a Hague convict – on Radio Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS), during which speakers praised him on multiple occasions.
US Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Chuck Grassley, alongside Congressman Keith Self, have called on the governments of Serbia and Republika Srpska to refrain from any association with today’s funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić, and to ensure that no public statement or official act pays tribute to him.
(Danas, N1, BBC Serbia, 07.09.2026)
https://www.danas.rs/vesti/drustvo/ratko-mladic-sahrana/
https://www.bbc.com/serbian/articles/c804k8702xlo/lat
https://n1info.rs/vesti/najnovije-vesti-blog-sahrana-ratka-mladica-7-septembar-2026-godine/
Photo credits: AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, BETA/SPC/LS PHOTO and AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic