Russian ships reportedly turned off tracking signals and faked paperwork while picking up Ukrainian grain in Crimea

• Ukrainian officials claim Russia is stealing grain from its farms and exporting it out of occupied Crimea.
• The BBC and Financial Times tracked the journeys of nine bulk carriers from Crimea to Turkey and Syria.

Investigations published by the Financial Times and BBC this week identified nine cargo ships docked at a sanctioned Crimea grain terminal in May. The reports come as Ukrainian officials and farmers accuse Russian forces of stealing grain from the country.

The Kremlin denies these allegations.

"Russia is shamelessly stealing Ukrainian grains and getting it out from the invaded Crimea. These grains are being shipped to foreign countries, including Turkey," Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Bodnar told reporters in early June, according to Reuters.

"We have made our appeal for Turkey to help us and, upon the suggestion of the Turkish side, are launching criminal cases regarding those stealing and selling the grains," he said.

At least one of the ships tracked by the Financial Times faked official paperwork to indicate that it was picking up cargo from a different, unsanctioned Russian port, the outlet reported Thursday.

However, satellite imagery shows the Russian bulk carrier actually was moored at Crimea's Sevastopol port, the owners of which are sanctioned by the U.S.

From there, the ship reportedly delivered 9,000 tons of corn to a buyer in Turkey. Three of the additional vessels tracked by the Financial Times sailed from Crimea to Turkey, while four others traveled to Syria. Several of the ships turned off their tracking signals in the Black Sea, according to the investigation.

Turning off a vessel's tracking signal — also known as "going dark" or "dark activity" — has been flagged by the US Treasury as one of several practices used to evade sanctions in the maritime industry.

By turning off its location data, a ship can obscure its final destination or hide other details about a vessel's movements.