Patriarch Porfirije leads Ratko Mladić's funeral service at St. Luke's Church in Vidikovac PHOTO/VIDEO

General Mladić’s family, the leadership of Republika Srpska, and his wartime comrades are present at the church.

Members of the Serbian Armed Forces are also there, standing beside the coffin containing General Mladić’s body.

The coffin has been on display in the church since this morning, and a large number of citizens have paid their respects to General Mladić and offered their condolences to his family.

Those who paid their respects to General Mladić included Republika Srpska (RS) President Siniša Karan, RS Prime Minister Savo Minić, Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović, ministers in the Republika Srpska government, Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić, Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić, Culture Minister Nikola Selaković, Minister without Portfolio responsible for international economic cooperation and the social position of the Church at home and abroad Nenad Popović, Banja Luka Mayor Draško Stanivuković, Russian Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, Danilo Vučić, son of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, as well as former Greek Minister of National Defence Panos Kammenos.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is not attending the service because Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is visiting Serbia today and tomorrow.

It is the first visit to Serbia by an Uzbek president and was arranged four months ago.

Following the funeral service, General Mladić will be buried at Topčider Cemetery, next to his daughter Ana.

General Mladić died on August 27 while in the custody of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence.

Before his death, Mladić had suffered several strokes. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague rejected all requests from his family and lawyers, as well as from the Republic of Serbia, for his early release so that he could receive treatment in Serbia.

Dozens of buses departed Republika Srpska for the funeral

Dozens of buses carrying wartime comrades and citizens from cities across Republika Srpska set off for Belgrade this morning to pay their respects to former commander of the Main Staff of the Republika Srpska Army, General Ratko Mladić, at St. Luke’s Church in Topčider and attend his burial at Topčider Cemetery.

Dozens of buses carrying demobilized veterans, family members of fallen soldiers, and citizens from the Sarajevo-Romanija region set off for Belgrade.

Jasna Lazarević Gavrilović, president of the Assembly of the Veterans’ Organization of the Municipality of Pale, told Srna that two buses had departed from Pale, also picking up a number of people from East Stari Grad and East Sarajevo who wished to attend General Mladić’s final farewell.

Gavrilović said the buses left for Belgrade around midnight, while a large number of people from Republika Srpska would also travel in their own cars.