Up to 1,500 Ukrainians may return from Russian captivity: what Zelenskyy said in Denmark about the new exchange
Kyiv • UNN
The sides are considering an exchange in a 1,000-for-1,000 or 1,500-for-1,500 format. The final number of people released will be agreed on November 12.
Ukraine and Russia, with the mediation of the United States, have reached an agreement to carry out a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during a working visit to Denmark on November 11, UNN reports.
Details
He said that during the talks in Abu Dhabi, two possible formats were considered: "1,000 for 1,000" and "1,500 for 1,500." However, the parties are to agree on the final number of people to be released on November 12.
What the President of Ukraine said about the possible exchange
After his address to the Danish parliament, the Folketing, on November 11, the head of state answered journalists' questions about the possible results of the diplomatic consultations. In particular, a TV 2 correspondent asked whether the Ukrainian president expected specific agreements to result from the talks.
In response, Zelenskyy stressed the need for further pressure on Russia and called the return of Ukrainians from captivity one of the important results that could be achieved through diplomacy.
We need to exert pressure on Russia. If we can achieve the result of exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war, that will be a very important result
It should also be noted that the day before, on November 10, while speaking with journalists in Copenhagen, Zelenskyy clarified that the participants in the trilateral talks were considering an even larger-scale exchange.
We discussed it with the team. Tomorrow is their main day. Today, they discussed the possibility of an exchange. They want to do 1,000 for 1,000, perhaps 1,500 for 1,500. Some kind of major exchange. The Americans will go to Russia with this agenda
What is known about the agreements in Abu Dhabi
Trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia took place on November 10–11 in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This was the first meeting of representatives of the three states in this format after a break that had lasted since February 2026. Following the first day of consultations, sources in Ukrainian media close to the negotiating delegation reported a preliminary agreement to conduct a large-scale prisoner exchange in the near future. Later, Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, also confirmed progress on the issue.
Good news came from Abu Dhabi today. There has been progress in the negotiations on the next prisoner exchange
The second day of talks ended at approximately 13:10 on November 11. As a result, representatives of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia confirmed that an agreement had been reached on the large-scale release of prisoners. Rustem Umerov, head of the Ukrainian delegation, said that the parties were continuing preparations for the exchange and that its numerical parameters would be announced separately.
Meanwhile, Jared Kushner, a representative of the American side, said that the participants in the talks had agreed to carry out a large-scale humanitarian release of prisoners. According to him, the final number of people is to be determined on November 12. The agreement was also confirmed by Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation. He said that the specific parameters of the exchange were planned to be announced in the near future.
In addition, Ukrainian delegation member Davyd Arakhamia expressed hope that the upcoming exchange would become one of the largest in the entire period of the full-scale war.
When was the last time Ukraine and Russia conducted a "1,000 for 1,000" exchange?
An exchange in the "1,000 for 1,000" format is not a new format for the parties. A similar exchange was conducted in May 2025. An agreement on it was reached during Ukrainian-Russian talks in Istanbul.
At that time, the process of releasing prisoners lasted three days—from May 23 to May 25. During the first stage, on May 23, 390 citizens returned to Ukraine, including 270 service members and 120 civilians. The following day, May 24, another 307 Ukrainian defenders were released. The final stage took place on May 25, when 303 service members returned from Russian captivity.
In total, over the course of three days, Ukraine returned 1,000 of its citizens. Those released included defenders of Mariupol, servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and other military formations.
As a reminder
At the beginning of June 2026, Russia's Ministry of Defense reported a prisoner exchange with Ukraine on a 185-for-185 basis. The United Arab Emirates acted as a mediator in the process.