“We regret that the Russian ship Zhibek Zholy, which was loaded with stolen Ukrainian grain, was allowed to leave the port of Karasu despite criminal evidence provided to the Turkish authorities,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko. “Turkey’s ambassador in Kyiv will be invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to clarify this unacceptable situation.” Turkish customs officials seized the ship at Ukraine’s request on Tuesday after Kyiv claimed the cargo was illegally transporting 7,000 tons of grain from Russian-held Berdyansk, a Ukrainian port in the country’s southeast. 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. “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 on Monday. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Kyiv has accused Russia of stealing more than 600,000 tonnes of grain from occupied Ukrainian territories to sell on international markets. The country’s grain exports account for nearly 15% of the world total. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and control of the Black Sea exit routes for the country’s grain has sparked a global food crisis that risks pushing the worst-hit countries into widespread famine. Turkey, with the Bosphorus Strait, is a key transit route for shipping from the Black Sea. Ukraine has tried to pressure Ankara to stop its Russian grain shipments, a vital source of revenue.
