Turkey detained Russian cargo ship carrying grain at Ukraine's request: Reports

Turkish customs authorities detained a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying grain at Ukraine's request, reports said Monday.

A Reuters report said the Zhibek Zholy ship anchored about one kilometer from shore and outside of the Red Sea port of Karasu near the Bosphorus Strait on Sunday, with no obvious signs of movement aboard or by other vessels nearby.

Ukraine had previously asked Turkey to detain the cargo ship, according to documents seen by Reuters.

In a separate report, Sputnik cited a source with the Turkish customs office saying that the Russian vessel had been suspected of transporting Ukrainian grain.

"The vessel is here but there is no clarity and no concrete decision has been taken. A request was made [by Ukraine to detain the ship] and an investigation is underway," the source was quoted as saying.

Ukrainian officials earlier said that 4,500 tonnes of grain were seized from the port city of Berdyansk in the southeastern province of Zaporizhzhia, which is under the control of Russia at present.

In a letter dated 30 June to Turkey’s justice ministry, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said the ship was involved in the “illegal export of Ukrainian grain” from Berdyansk and headed to Karasu in Turkey.

The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office asked Turkey to “conduct an inspection of this sea vessel, seize samples of grain for forensic examination, demand information on the location of such grain”, the letter said.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the new military-civilian administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, accused the West of piracy.

"Those who created this situation are blocking grain sales and hunting Russian ships carrying that grain. Simultaneously, they are accusing Russia of causing global hunger," Rogov was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

Kiev says Turkey detained Russian ship carrying Ukrainian grain

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Turkey said the Russian-flagged Zhibek Zholy cargo ship was impounded by Turkish customs authorities.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey claimed on Ukrainian national television that Kiev enjoyed Ankara's full co-operation. 

“We have full co-operation. The ship is currently standing at the entrance to the port, it has been detained by the customs authorities of Turkey,” he said.

A Russian-flagged cargo ship transporting 7,000 tonnes of grain left the Black Sea port of Berdyansk on Thursday.

Ukraine asked Turkey to detain the vessel. Rogov said the detained ship was carrying 4,500 tonnes of grain.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine's Donbas, which is composed of two breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, pro-Russian forces have declared independence.

Russian troops with the help of pro-Russian local fighters have successfully liberated multiple cities in the two regions that were occupied by Ukraine.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

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