Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar revealed a Russian ship is located at the entrance to the port during an appearance on Ukrainian national television. He went on to claim the ship’s fate will be decided during a meeting of investigators.
Kyiv even accused Moscow of stealing grain from areas which Vladimir Putin’s troops have seized since the Kremlin launched its invasion in late February.
However, Russia previously rejected claims it had stolen grain from Ukraine.
An official in Kyiv’s foreign ministry had claimed on Friday the Russian-flagged cargo ship, named Zhibek Zholy, had loaded up to 4,500 tonnes of Ukrainian grain from Berdyansk.
Ukraine also asked Turkey to detain the ship.
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“Russia’s blockade of Odesa continues to severely constrain Ukraine’s grain exports.
“Because of this, Ukraine’s agricultural exports in 2022 are unlikely to be more than 35 percent of the 2021 total.
“Following its retreat from the Black Sea outpost of Snake Island, Russia misleadingly claimed that ‘the ball is now in Ukraine’s court’ in relation to improving grain exports.”
They added: “In reality, it is Russia’s disruption of Ukraine’s agricultural sector which continues to exacerbate the global food crisis.”