Former Bosnian Serb military head Ratko Mladic's convictions for genocide and other crimes committed during Bosnia's 1992-95 war were maintained by United Nations appeals judges, who confirmed his life sentence.

The decision was made. The 79-year-old former commander who terrorized Bosnia throughout the war will be sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday. He is the final big player to face justice from a fight that concluded more than a quarter-century ago.

Mladic joins his erstwhile political master, ex-Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic, in serving a life sentence for orchestrating ethnic carnage during the Bosnian conflict, which resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 people and the displacement of millions.

Mladic, dubbed the "Butcher of Bosnia" by the media, commanded soldiers accused for atrocities ranging from "ethnic cleansing" efforts to the siege of Sarajevo and the war's horrific culmination in the 1995 Srebrenica tragedy. He is now a feeble older man whose ill health has caused this final judgment to be postponed.

His tainted reputation continues to split Bosnia and Herzegovina, and his shadow has cast a long shadow across the Balkans. He is a war hero to Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who fought to safeguard his people. He will always be a villain to Bosniaks, predominantly Muslims, who blame him for their awful wartime suffering and losses.