Turkish customs officials acted after Kyiv claimed the Zhibek Zholy illegally transported 7,000 tons of grain from Russian-held Berdiansk, a Ukrainian port in the country’s southeast. Officials in Karasu said the ship was waiting at the port while inquiries were made into the origin of the shipment. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed the ship was under a Russian flag, but appeared to muddy the waters while claiming the Kremlin was seeking clarity on Monday. “The ship is actually under the Russian flag, but I think it belongs to Kazakhstan and the cargo was transported under a contract between Estonia and Turkey,” Lavrov told reporters. Kyiv has accused Russia of stealing grain from occupied Ukrainian territory to sell on international markets. The country’s grain exports account for nearly 15% of the world total. Zhibek Zholy’s case has brought allegations of theft into the spotlight and put the Turkish government in a sensitive position as it continues to seek a mediating role between Moscow and Kiev on the global food supply issue. Zhibek Zholy’s voyage had been proudly announced by the Moscow-appointed head of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, home to the port of Berdiansk, as the “first merchant ship” to take supplies from Russian-controlled ports since the start of the war. Ukraine’s attorney general’s office then wrote to Turkey’s justice ministry on June 30, alleging that the Zhibek Zholy was involved in the “illegal export of Ukrainian grain” and that it was headed for Karasu. Turkey was asked to “conduct an inspection of this marine vessel, seize samples of grain for forensic examination and request information on the location of this grain.” Speaking on Ukrainian national television on Sunday, the country’s ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, said he hoped the grain would be seized. He said: “We have full cooperation. The ship is currently at the port entrance. He has been detained by Turkish customs authorities.” However, the difficulty of identifying the grain’s origin remains real. Russian-appointed administrations in the occupied territories also claim to be working in partnership with local farmers to release grain onto the world market. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST On Tuesday, authorities installed by Russia in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region announced an agreement to sell grain to Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Russia’s Tass news agency quoted Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the administration, as saying that Russian agricultural traders and state-owned companies were buying grain from farmers in the region. “Prices are not bad at the moment,” Balitsky told the news agency. “A farmer gets about $200 per ton of grain, which is great because his production cost is about $120, even taking into account the long storage time, which was forced.”
