A Turkish official and the port-operating company on July 4 confirmed that authorities had stopped a Russian-flagged cargo ship and are investigating claims by Ukraine that it was carrying stolen grain.
"Upon request, the ship named Zhibek Zholy was halted off Karasu," a senior official told Reuters. "The allegations are being investigated thoroughly. It is not written on the grain who it belongs to."
On July 3, Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, said the Zhibek Zholy was being detained by Turkish customs authorities.
Ukraine had asked Ankara to detain it, accusing Moscow of stealing grain from the territories that Russian forces have seized since their invasion began on February 24. Kyiv said the ship set off from Berdyansk, a Ukrainian port occupied by Russian forces.
The Kremlin has denied that Russia has stolen any Ukrainian grain.
Custom officials at the Turkish Black Sea port of Karasu had for now denied passage to the vessel, an employee of the IC Ictas port company told dpa.
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Marinetraffic.com said the 140-meter general cargo vessel was sailing under the Russian flag. It showed the ship late on July 1 anchored about 1 kilometer off Karasu.
On June 30, Evgeny Balitsky, head of the Moscow-appointed administration in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region, said on Telegram that the ship had left the Berdyansk port and was headed for "friendly countries."
He said the ship was loaded with 7,000 tons of grain, but he did not specify which countries were considered friendly nor did he give any details on the origins of the grain.
Bodnar said investigators would meet in Turkey on July 4 to determine the ship's fate and that Ukraine was seeking return of the grain.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing its grain during the invasion and blockading its ports to keep grain from leaving the country, which has helped contribute to a global food shortage.
Moscow has denied taking Ukrainian grain, but satellite images and GPS data have been used to back up the allegations that Russia has been transporting grain out of Ukraine through the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
Grain is one of Ukraine's main industries. Exports totaled $12.2 billion last year and accounted for nearly one-fifth of the country's exports. Ukraine's Black Sea ports, including Berdyansk, handled about 6 million tons of grains and other crops each month before the war.