By 1 July, the ship had been loaded with a cargo of 7,000 tons of grain from the Russian-occupied port of Berdiansk and was one its way to Turkish waters.

[2] The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey formally requested that the vessel be detained by Turkish authorities based on an accusation that it was transporting grain which was stolen from Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev denied reports that Zhibek Zholy had been detained, claiming that "standard procedures" were being followed.

Additionally, the Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan said that it was considering terminating the lease in light of the new accusations of grain theft, but would allow Turkey to continue its investigations.

[7] By 7 July, the ship left Karasu for Russian territorial waters, and according to France 24 sources, it was waiting at Port Kavkaz in order to offload the grain to another vessel.