Ratko Mladić in the context of "Bosnian Genocide"

The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by units of the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska under Ratko Mladić, though the Serb paramilitary unit Scorpions also participated. The massacre constitutes the first legally recognised genocide in Europe since the end of World War II.

Before the massacre, the United Nations (UN) had declared the besieged enclave of Srebrenica a "safe area" under its protection. A UN Protection Force contingent of 370 lightly armed Dutch soldiers failed to deter the town's capture and subsequent massacre. On 13 July, peacekeepers handed over some 5,000 Muslims sheltering at the Dutch base in exchange for the release of 14 Dutch peacekeepers held by the Bosnian Serbs.

The Army of Republika Srpska (Serbian: Војска Републике Српске, ВРС, romanized: Vojska Republike Srpske, VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska, the self-proclaimed secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herzegovina (formerly part of Yugoslavia), which it defied and fought against. Active during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995, the Bosnian Serb Army under General Ratko Mladić became the most proficient military force in the Balkans, as well as one of the most reviled armies in the world. After the war it continued to exist as the armed forces of Republika Srpska, one of two entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina, until 2006 when it was integrated into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the conflict, the Bosnian Serb Army conducted several major operations, including Operation Corridor 92, Operation Vrbas '92, Operation Lukavac, Operation Shield '94, and Operation Spider; The army also took part in the Siege of Sarajevo, the longest siege in the history of modern warfare, as well as in the Srebrenica massacre.