For four days in May the Mikhail Nenashev, a Russian cargo ship, seemed to disappear in the Black Sea.

Its transponder stopped recording its position on 22 May, only for it to reappear four days later less than seven miles away.  What happened in those four days and why did the ship disappear from tracking systems?

Sky News has followed the ship's journey and believes it is likely involved in a multi-million pound theft of Ukrainian grain.

It adds to a growing list of evidence that Russian forces are illegally expropriating Ukrainian resources.

But it also raises fresh questions for Turkey – a country that is treading a fine line with its policy on the Russian invasion – after the grain appeared to be being shipped into the country.

The Mikhail Nenashev

The Disappearing ship

Was the ship carrying stolen grain?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the US possesses "credible reports" that Russia is stealing Ukrainian grain and selling it internationally. State department cables leaked to the New York Times named the Mikhail Nenashev as a suspected carrier of some of this cargo, a theft which amounts to 600,000 tonnes of grain stolen in total, according to Ukrainian officials.

These claims are supported by videos posted online that seem to show trucks moving goods from occupied zones. The footage below was posted in late April and has been geo-located to the occupied city of Melitopol. The trucks, painted with the Russian Z, are a type that could carry grain and are travelling in the direction of Crimea.

Was the ship carrying stolen grain?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the US possesses "credible reports" that Russia is stealing Ukrainian grain and selling it internationally. State department cables leaked to the New York Times named the Mikhail Nenashev as a suspected carrier of some of this cargo, a theft which amounts to 600,000 tonnes of grain stolen in total, according to Ukrainian officials.

These claims are supported by videos posted online that seem to show trucks moving goods from occupied zones. The footage below was posted in late April and has been geo-located to the occupied city of Melitopol. The trucks, painted with the Russian Z, are a type that could carry grain and are travelling in the direction of Crimea.

Queues stretching for miles of the same types of truck were also seen on satellite imagery waiting at checkpoints into Crimea.

And there are several signs that suggest the Mikhail Nenashev - a bulk carrier designed to transport loose cargo like grain, ore and coal - was transporting stolen grain.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, identified Sevastopol, where the Mikhail Nenashev docked, as one of the main ports plundered grain is shipped from.

He told Sky News: "We have got a lot of information regarding the process of selling and bringing to international markets a huge amount of Ukrainian grain.... As we understand it, they (the Russians) take it by force from the owners, they bring the trucks to Crimea and use two ports which are officially closed by Ukrainian authorities - Sevastopol and Kerch - with the majority of grain going through Sevastopol".

Those believed to be the owners of The Mikhail Nenashev have been contacted for comment on the cargo it was carrying, but it does appear to have taken on a significant load in Sevastopol. Footage captured the vessel sitting low in the water as it passed through the narrow Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, suggesting it was heavily laden.

Turkey has shut the Bosphorus strait to warships since the outbreak of the war, but civilian vessels are still permitted to transit.

And it would be a Turkish port that the Mikhail Nenashev would head for on the next leg of its journey. This is despite the Turkish authorities stating that they don't recognise Crimea or other occupied parts of Ukraine as Russian territory.

Delivering cargo

Heading east

Was the cargo unloaded in Turkey?

The ship was docked in Iskenderun for six days at the Yazici port facility. Their website states the pier is capable of offloading loose cargo such as grain.

The port facility didn't respond when contacted for comment, but footage of the Mikhail Nenashev making its way back through the Bosphorus after it had docked in Iskenderun shows the boat sitting much higher in the water. It strongly suggests the ship had unloaded its cargo in Turkey.

Was the cargo unloaded in Turkey?

The ship was docked in Iskenderun for six days at the Yazici port facility. Their website states the pier is capable of offloading loose cargo such as grain.

The port facility didn't respond when contacted for comment, but footage of the Mikhail Nenashev making its way back through the Bosphorus after it had docked in Iskenderun shows the boat sitting much higher in the water. It strongly suggests the ship had unloaded its cargo in Turkey.

After the ship made its way north back into the Black Sea, it once again turned its transponder off, something several other ships believed to be involved in the theft of grain have been observed doing.

Disappearing again

A return journey

After turning its transponder off on 11 June, satellite imagery again captured the ship docked at the grain terminal in Sevastopol on 16 June.

And after stopping in Kerch, another Crimean port city, the ship once again began the journey to Iskenderun, where it arrived on 24 June.

What is Turkey’s position?

Turkey has taken on the role of mediator in the Russian-Ukraine crisis, hosting peace talks between the two sides in March and offering to do so again at the end of May.

It reflects Turkey’s balanced approach to the conflict, where they have supplied weapons to Ukraine, but they have also refused to sanction Russia in the way Western countries have.

It’s partly explained by Russia being an important trading partner of Turkey, while also wanting stability in the region that was shaken by Moscow’s aggression.

Yet the shipment of grain likely to have come from occupied Ukraine into Turkish ports could risk Turkey’s position as a neutral mediator.  

Turkish diplomatic sources told Sky News they do not condone the use of Crimean ports to trade with Turkey:

"We fully support Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including in its territorial waters. We do not recognize the illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea. Crimea is Ukrainian territory. Therefore, there is no change in our policy determined in accordance with the relevant UN decisions regarding the usage of Turkish ports by vessels going to and/or coming from Crimea. Possible circumvention is investigated thoroughly by our relevant authorities."

The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey confirmed they were working with Turkish authorities to start legal proceedings against those involved in this trade. But he also acknowledged the difficulty in investigating the grain shipments, which he believes are at least partly being orchestrated by Russian military intelligence:

"When these ships come to the ports of Turkey, for example, they present documents showing they are not coming from Crimea. They say they are coming from either the Port of Azov or Kavkaz in the Russian territory. So they falsified documents - they specifically organised this process."

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss visited Ankara this week to agree steps that would enable the safe and legal export of Ukrainian grain. She said: "We are working to get the grain out of Ukraine. Putin is weaponising hunger, he is using food security as a callous tool of war. He has blocked Ukrainian ports and is stopping 20 million tons of grain being exported across the globe".

The Russian Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to comment on this story when contacted by Sky News, but it had previously stated Russia was not illegally expropriating Ukrainian grain.   

After turning its transponder off on 11 June, satellite imagery again captured the ship docked at the grain terminal in Sevastopol on 16 June.

And after stopping in Kerch, another Crimean port city, the ship once again began the journey to Iskenderun, where it arrived on 24 June.

What is Turkey’s position?

Turkey has taken on the role of mediator in the Russian-Ukraine crisis, hosting peace talks between the two sides in March and offering to do so again at the end of May.

It reflects Turkey’s balanced approach to the conflict, where they have supplied weapons to Ukraine, but they have also refused to sanction Russia in the way Western countries have.

It’s partly explained by Russia being an important trading partner of Turkey, while also wanting stability in the region that was shaken by Moscow’s aggression.

Yet the shipment of grain likely to have come from occupied Ukraine into Turkish ports could risk Turkey’s position as a neutral mediator.  

Turkish diplomatic sources told Sky News they do not condone the use of Crimean ports to trade with Turkey:

"We fully support Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including in its territorial waters. We do not recognize the illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea. Crimea is Ukrainian territory. Therefore, there is no change in our policy determined in accordance with the relevant UN decisions regarding the usage of Turkish ports by vessels going to and/or coming from Crimea. Possible circumvention is investigated thoroughly by our relevant authorities."

The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey confirmed they were working with Turkish authorities to start legal proceedings against those involved in this trade. But he also acknowledged the difficulty in investigating the grain shipments, which he believes are at least partly being orchestrated by Russian military intelligence:

"When these ships come to the ports of Turkey, for example, they present documents showing they are not coming from Crimea. They say they are coming from either the Port of Azov or Kavkaz in the Russian territory. So they falsified documents - they specifically organised this process."

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss visited Ankara this week to agree steps that would enable the safe and legal export of Ukrainian grain. She said: "We are working to get the grain out of Ukraine. Putin is weaponising hunger, he is using food security as a callous tool of war. He has blocked Ukrainian ports and is stopping 20 million tons of grain being exported across the globe".

The Russian Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to comment on this story when contacted by Sky News, but it had previously stated Russia was not illegally expropriating Ukrainian grain.