Ukraine's air force used Turkish-made automated drones to hit Russian targets during the Russian invasion of the east European country, sparking concerns about the use of AI in military conflicts. 

The Ukrainian air force confirmed it had struck Russian targets, including a military convoy near Kherson, using Bayraktar TB2 drones during the early days Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Ukraine’s air force chief Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk described the drones as 'life-giving'. 

However, human rights and non-governmental organisations called for a global ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems (aka 'killer robots' and 'slaughterbots').