A senior Ukrainian defence-industry figure says a one-off test of fully autonomous “Terminator” drones—running with no human oversight—killed Russian soldiers on the front line two years ago. The admission comes as Ukraine bans fully autonomous target-intercep
For the first time. fully autonomous drones—systems that can select and engage targets without a human in the loop—are being linked to battlefield deaths. The claim comes from a senior figure in Ukraine’s defence industry. and it lands with a particular weight because it describes an action that was not supervised. not verified. and not even viewable by the operators.
The one-off test took place about two years ago and involved 10 AI-controlled “Terminator” drones deployed on the front line of the Ukraine war. Russian soldiers were killed, according to drone-maker Alexander Kokhanovskyy, who supplied the technology.
“We tried it,” Kokhanovskyy said at a press event hosted by the Ukrainian embassy. “It’s a test. We never implemented it [more widely].”
The configuration was described as quadcopter drones programmed to fly towards the front line, covering between 3 and 5 kilometres over around 10 minutes. After that, they entered “Terminator mode,” where an AI model searches for and intercepts targets.
Kokhanovskyy’s description was blunt about the limits of human control and even human visibility: “We just launch it and we know everything will be dead – everything that will be found there in this particular area will be dead.” He added that there was “no connection to the drone at all. ” and that “you cannot see the video. nothing… Everything it sees will be killed.”.
After the automated drones were used. the testing team sent human-piloted drones into the area to check what had been hit. Kokhanovskyy said victims included “a couple of soldiers. one truck. ” and he said that while there was no recording of the automated drones attacking these targets. it was concluded that the drones had killed them.
Kokhanovskyy said he was not at the test personally. He said it was carried out by an unnamed military unit near the cities of Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar as part of a Ukrainian counteroffensive push.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence did not respond to questions about the test or the current legal position on the use of fully autonomous weapons.
Ukraine has taken a firmer stance than many countries when it comes to the final moment of interception. Defence company sources speaking at the embassy press conference said the Ukrainian government currently bans the use of AI at the final stage of intercepting targets. AI is still used for many parts of the process by many devices up to that point. but the last step—turning detection into engagement—must be verified by humans.
Kokhanovskyy said the government is aware of the growing capabilities of AI and is in talks with defence companies about whether rules should be made more lenient.
His disclosure comes after earlier reporting that Ukrainian attack drones equipped with artificial intelligence were finding and attacking targets without human assistance. though in 2023 those claims were linked to vehicles such as tanks rather than infantry. At the time, no human casualties were confirmed.
There is no single international treaty that bans autonomous weapons capable of killing without human intervention. Still, the pressure is growing from the highest levels of diplomacy. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a ban. saying last year: “there is no place for lethal autonomous weapon systems in our world”. The UN has warned that such weapons could violate international humanitarian and human rights laws by removing human judgement from warfare. It has also pointed to the risk of mistakes—attacking soldiers or equipment from the same side or striking civilians.
That wider debate sits alongside a more practical reality: militaries are already automating large parts of targeting. Kokhanovskyy’s account, however, marks a shift in emphasis. The central point is not that AI helps interpret data. but that it can be allowed—at least in a test—to decide and act without human oversight in the moment of killing.
Major Danylo Polozhukhno. a senior figure in Ukraine’s 21st Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment of the 3rd Army Corps. said his soldiers use semi-autonomous control systems but that there is always a human in the loop. He described systems that can automatically acquire and track targets. and autonomously guide themselves during the final metres of the approach. while avoiding fully autonomous engagement without operator involvement.
“These drone systems and platforms are capable of automatically acquiring and tracking targets. as well as autonomously guiding themselves during the final metres of the approach. which helps simplify the operators’ work. However. we do not use fully autonomous drone systems that independently select and engage targets without any operator involvement. ” Polozhukhno said. “Ukraine adheres to international humanitarian law and takes seriously its responsibility to uphold the rights of all combatants. It also exercises great care in decision-making in order to prevent civilian casualties.”.
At the same event, Mariarosaria Taddeo of the University of Oxford argued that killing with AI strips away moral and legal responsibility.
“Killing with AI steals the dignity of the soldier, removes responsibility from the attacker and must be banned. “It’s not just problematic, it’s horrendous,” she said. “Do we want to be the society who kills other people. who allows their government to kill other people. without humans being involved?”.
Anthony King at the University of Exeter, UK, offered a different kind of warning—less about principle, more about how useful these systems may be in practice. He said fully autonomous attacks without humans in the loop are technologically possible, but may be less decisive than advocates assume.
“It is certainly possible governments would allow this if it gave them any military advantage,” King said. “However, the fact remains that very few if any of the millions of drones which have been [fully] autonomous.”
“So it’s not just that it’s ethically right to keep humans in the loop, at this point, it’s more militarily effective,” he added.
Kokhanovskyy said the Terminator project did not progress after the test because of Ukraine’s rules. He is now CEO of Aero Center. and said the company was not involved in the test because it had not been created at the time. Aero Center is working on autonomous interceptor drones designed to target incoming Russian Shahed kamikaze drones before they reach towns and cities full of civilians or important infrastructure.
The company’s ALITA system, Kokhanovskyy said, will include 16 launch pads equipped with 64 drones. It is intended to be ready by October. The system would watch for incoming drones. automatically launch. and travel towards the target at 450 kilometres per hour before taking out targets ranging “from small drones to helicopters.”.
But Ukraine’s current rules still apply. The company’s design will require humans to verify targets in the final stages of interception. Even in that mode. Kokhanovskyy said the full battery of 64 drones would require just two human operators—drastically reducing personnel. but not eliminating the human role at the last step.
“Every step of this one can be either manual or automatic. We’re not allowed to do the final stage automatically,” Kokhanovskyy said. “I would love to,” he added.
autonomous drones Ukraine war Terminator drones lethal autonomous weapons AI target interception international humanitarian law UN call for ban Shahed kamikaze drones ALITA system human in the loop