The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has neutralized a criminal group whose aim was to proclaim an illegal state entity in Odesa region, advisor to the SBU chief Markiyan Lubkivsky said.

"A multi-stage operation was carried out on April 29 […] A group of individuals was exposed and contained, which had a well-organized structure, when it operated in Odesa region and coordinated its actions from the Russian Federation. About 20 people have already been arrested and 17 searches carried out […] It was established that the end goal of these individuals who were arrested was to proclaim an entity under a working title of 'Bessarabia'," Lubkivsky said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

"The SBU continues to disrupt plans to rip Ukraine apart," he said. "In particular, we have exposed and discontinued massive terrorist activity aimed at disconnecting the Odesa region from Ukraine [...] We have disrupted plans to create the so-called The People's Council of Bessarabia, The People's Republic of Bessarabia, The Odesa People's Republic," Lubkivsky said.

The individuals arrested as part of the criminal inquiry have been notified about being suspected of "encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine."