Ratko Mladić (born March 12, 1942) was the leader of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS) (the Bosnian Serb Army) during the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia.

Mladić was born in Kalinovik, Bosnia, then a part of the Independent State of Croatia, a German- and Italian-occupied state created after the invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia in 1941.

In June 1991, Mladić was posted to Knin as Commander of the 9th Corps of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), during fighting between the JNA and Croatian forces. On October 4, 1991, he was promoted to General Major. On April 24, 1992, Mladić was promoted to the rank of General Lieutenant, and on May 9, 1992, he assumed the post of Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander of the Second Military District Headquarters of the JNA in Sarajevo. On 10 May 1992, Mladić assumed the command of the Second Military District Headquarters of the JNA.

On May 12, 1992, the Bosnian Serb Assembly voted to create the VRS. At the same time, Mladić was appointed Commander of the Main Staff of the VRS, a position he held until December 1996. (In May 1992, after the withdrawal of JNA forces from Bosnia, the JNA Second Military District became the nucleus of the Main Staff of the VRS.) On June 24, 1994, he was promoted to the rank of General Colonel.

On July 24, 1995, Mladić was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, and numerous war crimes (including crimes relating to the alleged sniping campaign against civilians in Sarajevo). On November 16, 1995, the charges were expanded to include charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes for the attack on the United Nations-declared safe area of Srebrenica in July 1995.

A fugitive from the ICTY, he is suspected to be hiding either in Serbia or the Republika Srpska.