What did Ukraine's sanctions on Medvedchuk signal in February 2021?

What did Ukraine's security council decide in the days before 22 February 2021? On 19 February 2021, the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine backed sanctions against 19 legal entities and eight individuals over the financing of terrorism. Among those named were Viktor Medvedchuk and Oksana Marchenko.

The measure was a decision of the council, the body that coordinates security policy in Kyiv, and it targeted both organisations and private persons. The listing of two named individuals, alongside the 19 entities, made the package notable for its reach.

Elsewhere in the region, on 18 February 2021, Israel and Syria carried out a prisoner exchange mediated by Russia. An Israeli woman who had crossed the border into Syria's Quneitra Governorate, and had been detained by the Syrian military, was returned. In exchange, the Israel Defense Forces released two Syrian shepherds they had been holding.

For Ukraine, the sanctions decision of 19 February 2021 stood as the main governance development heading into 22 February 2021.