Plot to establish 'Odessa People's Republic' foiled by Ukrainian security service

ODESSA , Ukraine, July 10 (UPI) -- A plot to establish an "Odessa People's Republic" was thwarted, the government intelligence agency Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Thursday.

The separatist organization was modeled on similar groups currently controlling the eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. SBU said in a statement the network of about 50 collaborators was underwritten by Russian intelligence services.

The group allegedly planned attacks on infrastructure, government officials and foreigners in Odessa Oblast, the administrative district that includes Odessa, a city of about one million and a major port. The SBU arrested two alleged conspirators Wednesday, Alexander Yakimenko, a Russian citizen, and Yuriy Trofimov, a Ukrainian. It also said it seized a cache of weapons and intelligence including maps marked with military routes and strategic facilities.

"The provocateurs meant to incite artificial conflict between inhabitants of the Oblast," the SBU said.