Ukraine summons Turkish ambassador over release of Russian ship full of grain

July 7 (UPI) -- Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Turkish ambassador after a seized Russian ship loaded with allegedly stolen Ukrainian grain was allowed to leave Turkey Wednesday evening.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement that the Russian ship Zhibek Zholy was attempting to transport stolen grain from Russian-occupied Berdiansk.

"Thanks to the prompt intervention of the relevant authorities of Ukraine, this vessel was made unable to unload the stolen grain and was detained," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said. "Besides that, a request was sent to the Turkish side to arrest the ship and its cargo."

Ukraine said in the statement that it "appeals to the Turkish side to investigate the situation and provide exhaustive answers" about the ship's release.

Russia has allegedly been stealing Ukrainian grain from Russian-occupied areas of the country and has also attacked grain silos.

"We regret that Russia's ship Zhibek Zholy, which was full of stolen Ukrainian grain, was allowed to leave Karasu port despite criminal evidence presented to the Turkish authorities," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko tweeted.

Turkish authorities had seized the Russian ship Tuesday after Ukraine informed them that the ship was carrying 7,000 tons of grain illegally shipped out of Russian-occupied Ukrainian port Berdiansk.

According to the Ukrainian government, Russia has stolen more than 600,000 tons of grain to sell on international markets.

Earlier this month Russian forces intensified their attack on grain, hitting Odessa-area silos containing nearly 40 tons of grain, according to Ukrainian officials.