A ship carrying 7,000 tons of grain has sailed from Ukraine's occupied port of Berdyansk, the region's Moscow-appointed official said on Thursday, marking the first grain shipment since the start of the war.

"After numerous months of delay, the first merchant ship has left the Berdyansk commercial port, 7,000 tons of grain are heading toward friendly countries," Evgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration, said on Telegram.

Russia's Black Sea ships "are ensuring the security" of the journey he said, adding that the Ukrainian port had been demined.

Berdyansk is a port city in the region of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has accused Russia and its allies of stealing its grain, contributing to a global food shortage caused by grain exports blocked in Ukrainian ports.

The southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been largely under Russia's control since the first weeks of Moscow's military intervention and are now being forcefully integrated into Russia's economy.

Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia also heavily exports fertilizer and Ukraine corn and sunflower oil. But Ukrainian grain shipments from its Black Sea ports have stalled since Russia invaded, with some 20 million tons of grain stuck, fueling global food shortages.

The United Nations has appealed to both Russia and Ukraine, as well as maritime neighbor Turkey, to agree to a sea corridor for grains to be exported from the Black Sea.

Turkey previously said there is a consensus regarding establishing an operations center in Istanbul that will monitor the implementation of the potential sea corridor in the Black Sea to export grain from Ukraine. Ankara has held talks with Moscow and the U.N., but says all sides need to meet for a final agreement.

Ankara also stressed the country is investigating allegations that Ukrainian grain has been stolen by Russia and will not allow any such grain to be brought to the country.

The U.S. earlier welcomed Turkey’s involvement in brokering an agreement to get grain that has been trapped at Ukrainian ports amid the Russian invasion.

Kremlin has reiterated its assertion that Russia did not steal any grain from Ukraine.