OREANDA-NEWS  In 2025, Saudi Arabia set a record for the number of executions, executing 340 people. This is reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), RIA Novosti reports.

According to the agency, based on data from the Saudi Interior Ministry and the state news agency SPA, since the beginning of 2025, the majority of people in the kingdom (232 criminals) have been executed for drug trafficking. On Monday, December 15, the Interior Ministry announced that death sentences against three people in a murder case had been carried out in the province of Makkah.

According to the agency, Saudi Arabia has set a record for the number of executions for the second year in a row. In 2024, 338 people were executed in the kingdom.

Analysts attribute the increase in the number of death sentences to the country's intensified fight against drugs, which began in 2023. That year, executions for drug-related crimes resumed in the kingdom. Until 2023, the execution of death sentences under such articles was suspended for three years. According to the publication, Saudi Arabia continues to be one of the largest markets for the distribution of the synthetic drug captagon.

Earlier, Russian tourists were warned that swearing in Saudi Arabia could lead to a criminal sentence. Boris Dolgov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also said that it is better not to allow hugs or kisses on the streets due to strict government regulations.