According to the operator, Turkey has stopped a Russian-flagged ship carrying grain at the Black Sea port of Karasu. Customs initially refused the freighter “Zhibek Zholy” in front of the Turkish Black Sea city, said a person responsible for the port company IC Ictas at the request of the German Press Agency on Monday.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Wassyl Bondar, said on Ukrainian television the day before that the further fate of the ship would be decided on Monday. Ukraine hopes the ship will be impounded and the cargo confiscated.
According to the online tracking system “Marinetraffic”, the freighter came from the Russian coastal city of Novorossiysk. However, the Russian-appointed head of the occupied southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia, Yevgeny Balizki, wrote to the Telegram news service that the freighter left the port of Berdyansk last Thursday.
The international community has been demanding that Russia allow the export of Ukrainian grain for weeks. Ukraine complains that its ports in the Black Sea are blocked by the Russian Navy. Kyiv also accuses Russia of stealing Ukrainian grain. Moscow rejects this.
