[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 996 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 996

    Expressing the sense of Congress that the activities of Russian 
 national Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated entities pose a threat 
to the national interests and security of the United States and of its 
                          allies and partners.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 11, 2020

     Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Keating, and Mr. 
 Kinzinger) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of Congress that the activities of Russian 
 national Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated entities pose a threat 
to the national interests and security of the United States and of its 
                          allies and partners.

Whereas Yevgeniy Prigozhin is a Russian national who has maintained close 
        personal ties with President Vladimir Putin since the early 2000s;
Whereas Yevgeniy Prigozhin is the patron and funder of the Wagner Group, also 
        known as the Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner, a Russian mercenary 
        organization staffed by current and former military and intelligence 
        officers, and the Internet Research Agency (IRA), an organization 
        engaged in online influence operations;
Whereas the IRA has conducted online information operations against the United 
        States in an attempt to sow division and discord among the American 
        electorate, as well as the electorates of our European allies and 
        partners;
Whereas entities funded by Yevgeniy Prigozhin have been used by the Government 
        of the Russian Federation to conduct military action, subversive 
        operations, and disinformation campaigns on its behalf while giving it 
        an appearance of plausible deniability;
Whereas the Wagner Group was involved in the Russian Federation's military 
        invasion and illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in February 
        and March 2014, and in the subsequent insurgencies in the eastern 
        Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk;
Whereas the Wagner Group has been providing military support to the regime of 
        Bashar al-Assad in Syria since 2015, fighting alongside its forces and 
        helping it recapture significant parts of the country;
Whereas, on February 7, 2018, the Wagner Group led an armed assault on United 
        States troops near the city of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, prompting 
        a United States counterattack, in what has been described as ``the 
        deadliest U.S.-Russia clash since the Cold War'';
Whereas the Wagner Group has supported Khalifa Haftar and his ``Libyan National 
        Army'' by providing mercenaries, artillery, tanks, drones, and 
        ammunition, with Yevgeniy Prigozhin personally attending a meeting 
        between Haftar and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on 
        November 7, 2018;
Whereas a United Nations report made public on May 6, 2020, concluded that the 
        Wagner Group has operated up to 1,200 military contractors in Libya, 
        including snipers and specialized military teams, serving as ``an 
        effective force multiplier'' for Haftar's army.
Whereas mercenaries from the Wagner Group were deployed to Venezuela in January 
        2019 to provide support for the regime of Nicolas Maduro in the face of 
        popular protests against his rule;
Whereas Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated entities have spearheaded 
        operations with the intent to influence political processes in Africa on 
        behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation in several countries, 
        including Madagascar, South Africa, Sudan, and Zimbabwe;
Whereas the Wagner Group has deployed mercenaries to the Central African 
        Republic since 2018 and has provided security detail for Central African 
        Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera, including Russian national 
        Valery Zakharov, a former security official with close ties to the 
        Wagner Group, who serves as the National Security Adviser;
Whereas, on July 31, 2018, Russian journalists Orkhan Dzhemal, Kirill Radchenko, 
        and Alexander Rastorguyev were murdered in the Central African Republic 
        while working on a documentary about the activities of the Wagner Group 
        in that country;
Whereas according to an investigation by the London-based Dossier Center, the 
        journalists had been tracked by officers of the Central African Republic 
        gendarmerie who were in close communication with Russian nationals tied 
        to the Wagner Group, including Valery Zakharov and Alexander Sotov;
Whereas associates of Yevgeniy Prigozhin were reported to discuss plans to set 
        up camps ``for combat prep and training in sabotage'' with the goal of 
        stoking racial violence and carrying out domestic terror attacks in the 
        United States in the run-up to the November 3, 2020, presidential 
        election;
Whereas associates of Yevgeniy Prigozhin have set up online influence operations 
        based in Ghana and Nigeria to target social media audiences in the 
        United States with the goal of inflaming racial tensions and provoking 
        social unrest in the run-up to the November 3, 2020, presidential 
        election;
Whereas, on December 20, 2016, the Department of the Treasury designated 
        Yevgeniy Prigozhin under Executive Order 13661, ``Blocking Property of 
        Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine'', for 
        having ``materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, 
        material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support 
        of, senior officials of the Russian Federation'';
Whereas, on June 20, 2017, the Department of the Treasury designated the Wagner 
        Group under Executive Order 13660, ``Blocking Property of Certain 
        Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine'', for being 
        ``responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or 
        indirectly, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, 
        stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine'';
Whereas, on March 15, 2018, the Department of the Treasury designated Yevgeniy 
        Prigozhin, his affiliated entities, including the Internet Research 
        Agency, and his subordinates under Executive Order 13694, ``Blocking the 
        Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-
        Enabled Activities,'' for being ``involved in interfering with [U.S.] 
        election processes or institutions''; and
Whereas current and former Administration officials have affirmed that the 
        malign activities of Yevgeniy Prigozhin around the world pose a 
        significant threat to United States national security interests: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns any and all attempts by the Government of the 
        Russian Federation and its proxy actors to harmfully influence 
        the domestic politics of other countries and sow division among 
        their peoples, particularly the United States and its allies 
        and partners;
            (2) condemns the activities of Russian national Yevgeniy 
        Prigozhin and his affiliated entities that pose a threat to the 
        democratic values and security of the United States and its 
        allies and partners;
            (3) urges countries engaging with Yevgeniy Prigozhin and 
        his affiliated entities in business or advisory capacities to 
        cease these engagements;
            (4) calls for seriously considering additional sanctions 
        against Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated entities for 
        continued interference in United States democratic processes 
        and in the democratic processes of United States allies and 
        partners;
            (5) urges our European Union partners to seriously consider 
        adopting similar sanctions regimes against Yevgeniy Prigozhin 
        and his affiliated entities for continued interference in the 
        domestic politics of European Union member states; and
            (6) calls for close coordination between the United States 
        Government and the governments of United States allies and 
        partners to ensure that sanctions regimes against Yevgeniy 
        Prigozhin and his affiliated entities are tightly coordinated.
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