Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars from the FRY, as the Bosnian Serb faction alone could not pay for the costs. The Bosnian Serb Army was led by Ratko Mladić, an extremely controversial figure, who served the Yugoslav Army during the Croatian War of Independence 1991-1992, and has been accused of committing war crimes in Bosnia. Serbian Radical Party founder and paramilitary Vojislav Seselj publicly claimed Milošević personally asked him to send paramilitaries from Serbia into Bosnia and Herzegovina. After 1993, media reports of large-scale atrocities by the Bosnian Serb armed forces, such as the long siege of Sarajevo, resulted in increased pressure and sanctions by
1992 Bosnian independence referendum volunteers had attacked the predominantly Croat town of Ravno in September 1991, Bosnian Serb policemen fired upon Bosniak populated areas of Šipovo during which 3,000 Bosniaks fled, and Serb paramilitary units targeted Foča, Višegrad, Zvornik, Bijeljina, and other towns in east Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the month of recognition, the siege of Sarajevo began, by which time the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) controlled 70% of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1992 Bosnian independence referendum An independence referendum was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 29 February and 1 March 1992, following the first free elections of 1990 and the