The paper discusses autonomous weapon systems that can be defined as self contained or independent. Autonomous weapons are capable of distinguishing and targeting targets without further intervention by a human operator. In many cases, the current trend is towards full autonomy of weapon systems, there are already such weapon systems in various armies, for example, unmanned combat aircraft, which are able to assess the situation by themselves with the help of programmed information. In practice, however, these are currently more of semi-autonomous weapon systems. In particular, the question arises whether to regulate the use of autonomous weapons systems so that they are in accordance with the international humanitarian law or to ban them entirely. A complete ban on autonomous weapons does not seem to be realistic. It might be more realistic not to completely prohibit them, but to regulate the use of autonomous weapon systems in armed conflicts by the rules of international humanitarian law. When considering the use of autonomous weapons systems, it is necessary to consider the existing rules of international humanitarian law (IHL), which regulate the use of weapons in armed conflicts in general. In particular, to ensure that new weapons are neither indiscriminate in their nature nor cause excessive injury or unnecessary suffering, the principle of proportionality must also be respected. In the case of the use of autonomous weapon systems, it will always be necessary to determine what person will be responsible for the specific decision to deploy and use the weapon. In a specific case, it should be a combatant. This and other issues can only be resolved by special rules in the form of an international treaty or at least a soft law document. When it comes to the war in Ukraine, both sides, Ukraine and Russia, mainly use various types of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). They are mostly operated by human operators, but a certain degree of autonomy is used for some of them.