Lebanon: A Syrian-flagged ship carrying Ukrainian grain cargo that was docked at a northern port and claimed by the Kyiv embassy in Beirut was "illegal", was seized by a Lebanese prosecutor on Saturday went.

According to a judicial official, prosecutor Ghassan Ouidat ordered police to investigate Laodicea, which docked in Tripoli earlier this week.

Under condition of anonymity, the official said Oueidat "ordered the seizure of the ship until the investigation was over."

The Ukrainian embassy claimed that the grain on the ship flying the Syrian flag was loaded from territory controlled by the Russian military, so Lebanese police were instructed to contact them as well.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and Kyiv has often accused Moscow forces of looting its grain storage facilities.

According to Lebanon's foreign ministry, "a Syrian-flagged ship is carrying barley and flour."
Ukraine's ambassador Ihor Ostash informed Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday that the ship was carrying "illegal barley from occupied Ukrainian territory".

The judicial official said that according to initial reports, the grain belonged to a Syrian businessman and the owner of the shipping company is a Turkish national.
The official also said that some of the cargo would be shipped to Syria and some would be unloaded in Lebanon.

A customs official told Agence France-Presse: "The documents for the ship were "all in order and there is no evidence that the goods were stolen."

According to the official, who wished to remain anonymous, if the ship had been subject to sanctions, Turkish authorities would have confiscated it.
Some media reports claim that the US imposed sanctions on Laodicea years ago as part of its campaign against the Bashar al-Assad administration in Syria.

The incident comes as Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, is set to resume grain exports as a result of a deal backed by the United Nations.

A Russian naval blockade and Ukrainian mines set to prevent amphibious landings on the Black Sea coast have stranded millions of tons of grain in Ukraine.

Laodicea was taken as Lebanon, which was dealing with one of the worst financial crises in history, was also facing a severe bread shortage.

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