[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
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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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