Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and the International Humanitarian Law. Case Study: Russia

Rapid developments in the field of military technology, specifically unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), are raising several questions. One of those being potential violation of core principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), due to minimization of human intervention in the battle and subsequent shift of decision-making process to the technology. On the other hand, Russia has recognized the importance of emerging military technologies and it has been heavily investing in the sector to make up technological backlog with other countries. Current research will examine the usage practices of UAVs for targeted killings, developments in the field and what are the possible conflicting situations with IHLs core principles, focusing on Russia. The authors argue that while Russia is striving to obtain the capability of lethal UAVs, Russian state security apparatus’s pre-existing negligence towards international law and obligations will lead to potential violations of core principles of IHL. In short-medium period, maturing its technologies and tactics to use UAVs for military operations make additional contribution to violations.