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Executions in 2025 soared to the highest figure recorded by Amnesty International since 1981, with 2,707 people executed across 17 countries, revealed the latest annual report from the human rights organization on the global use of the death penalty.

The staggering rise recorded in the report Death Sentences and Executions 2025, was down to a handful of governments determined to rule by fear. Iranian authorities, the main drivers behind the spike, executed at least 2,159 people, more than double its 2024 figure. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia raised its execution tally to at least 356, using the death penalty extensively for drug-related offences. Executions in Kuwait almost tripled (from 6 to 17), while they near doubled in Egypt (from 13 to 23), Singapore (from 9 to 17), and the United States of America (from 25 to 47). Overall, executions rose by 78%, after at least 1,518 executions were recorded in 2024. The 2025 total does not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believes continued to be carried out in China, which remained the world’s lead executioner.

“This alarming spike in the use of the death penalty is due to a small, isolated group of states willing to carry out executions at all costs, despite the continued global trend towards abolition. From China, Iran, North Korea and Saudi Arabia to Yemen, Kuwait, Singapore and the USA, this shameless minority are weaponizing the death penalty to instil fear, crush dissent and show the strength state institutions have over disadvantaged people and marginalized communities,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

The resurgence of highly punitive approaches in the “war on drugs” drove efforts to expand the use of the death penalty. This was reflected in the number of executions, with close to half (1,257 or 46%) of all known executions recorded for drug-related offences: in China (+), Iran (998), Kuwait (2), Saudi Arabia (240) and Singapore (15). Algeria, Kuwait, and the Maldives made legislative efforts to expand the scope of the death penalty to include drug-related offences.

The government of Burkina Faso adopted a draft bill that included reinstating the death penalty for offences such as “high treason,” “terrorism,” and “acts of espionage”, while the authorities in Chad established a commission to review matters related to the death penalty – including its reinstatement.

Swedish defence giant Saab has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Polish state defence group PGZ that will see them cooperate on naval production, servicing and technology.

The firms say that PGZ will be integrated into Saab’s supply chain, while they also aim to establish an underwater technology centre in Poland and explore joint production projects, including for a new torpedo.

The deal highlights and reinforces the growing ties between Poland and Sweden, two Baltic NATO allies that signed a strategic partnership in 2024 to enhance cooperation on defence and economic development.

Poland last year picked Saab as its preferred supplier of three new submarines for its navy. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the time that one reason Saab won the bid was its openness to invest in and transfer expertise to the Polish shipbuilding industry.

In March this year, Saab and PGZ agreed to cooperate on the maintenance and repair of those submarines. Under the new agreement signed this week, the pair will also collaborate more broadly on the servicing of surface and underwater vessels.

The Swedish company also says it will “integrate PGZ Group’s naval domain entities into Saab’s supply chain” while “pursuing selected export opportunities for both surface and underwater platforms, including rescue vessels”.

Additionally, the firms intend to establish an “underwater technology centre” in Poland and “explore the possibility to collaborate on a heavyweight torpedo”, says Saab.

Saab’s CEO, Micael Johansson, expressed satisfaction at the “speed at which our cooperation is advancing”.

He said that the new agreement “reflects a strong commitment to a deepening partnership between Polish and Swedish industry, while also contributing to enhanced security in the Baltic Sea and NATO’s eastern flank”.

His counterpart at PGZ, Adam Leszkiewicz, likewise hailed the deal as “an important step in the development of maritime competences in Poland and integration with international supply chains”.

“Maritime and submarine domains are becoming a key pillar of Polish-Swedish cooperation, from both a security and industrial perspective,” he added.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has increased its defence spending to the highest relative level in NATO. While Warsaw still buys much of its hardware abroad, in particular from the US and South Korea, it has also been seeking to bolster its domestic defence industry.

Meanwhile, Poland has in recent years sought to build closer ties across the Baltic region, helped by the fact that Finland and Sweden joined NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Last year, Poland and Sweden held their first bilateral military exercises in the Baltic Sea and Sweden bought €274 million worth of Piorun man-portable air-defence systems from Polish firm Mesko, a subsidiary of PGZ.

Poland has also deepened defence ties with Norway, whose Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace will be involved in developing a new Polish anti-drone system. Meanwhile, Poland will manufacture missiles for K239 Chunmoo rocket artillery systems that Norway is purchasing from South Korea.

Olivier Sorgho

Olivier Sorgho is senior editor at Notes from Poland, covering politics, business and society. He previously worked for Reuters.

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Police in Poland have detained five people, all Polish citizens in their teens, on suspicion of involvement in a violent attack on a group of Ukrainian teenagers in Warsaw last week.

In the wake of the incident, the city’s liberal mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, blamed the anti-Ukrainian rhetoric of right-wing politicians for “encouraging thugs” to carry out these kinds of attacks.

The attack took place on Thursday last week on Warsaw’s Świętokrzyski Bridge, with police saying that three Ukrainian teenagers were assaulted, one of whom required hospital treatment.

Gazeta Wyborcza, a leading daily, spoke with the hospitalised victim, whom they named only as Artem. He said that he and a group of friends, who had been speaking in Ukrainian and Russian, were attacked by a group of around ten Poles.

Artem was sprayed with pepper spray and beaten, resulting in a fractured skull. He says that the assailants tried to throw one of his friends off the bridge and shouted, “Fuck off back to Ukraine”. The incident was only brought to an end because a police car appeared, resulting in the attackers fleeing.

In an initial statement on Monday, local police said that “the current findings and evidence collected so far do not indicate that this incident was motivated by nationality”.

However, on Wednesday, Trzaskowski told a press conference that “everything indicates that this was a crime motivated by nationality and even racism”. The mayor said he was “incredibly saddened” that this had happened. “We often say that Warsaw is a tolerant and safe city.”

Trzaskowski issued a message to those who he believes are responsible for stirring hate towards Ukrainians.

“Your words – and I’m addressing right-wing politicians in particular – sometimes have precisely this kind of consequences,” said the mayor. “Verbal attacks on our guests from Ukraine can, unfortunately, be perceived by thugs as an encouragement to carry out this type of behaviour, and can end this way.”

The mayor also warned that such rhetoric and incidents serve the interests of Russia, which has long tried to stir animosity between Poles and Ukrainians.

“I think no one enjoys these kinds of incidents more than Moscow and Russian propaganda, which constantly tries to divide us from Ukrainians and incite Polish society against our Ukrainian guests,” said Trzaskowski.

Ukrainians are by far Poland’s largest foreign national group. The country is home to almost one million refugees who fled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainian immigrants.

However, far-right groups have led a growing campaign against the large-scale presence of Ukrainians, which they say threatens Poland’s identity and also makes it harder for Poles to access housing, healthcare, education and other services.

In a social media post on Thursday, interior minister Marcin Kierwiński announced that “the police have detained five individuals, Polish citizens aged 15-18”, on suspicion of carrying out the attack on Świętokrzyski Bridge.

“Zero tolerance for aggression,” wrote Kierwiński, who also shared a video of the suspects being arrested.

In a further statement quoted by broadcaster RMF, the police said that “procedural activities are underway to thoroughly clarify all the circumstances of the incident and determine the role played by each of the young men”.

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.