III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 624 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the activities of Russian national 

Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated entities pose a threat to the national 

interests and national security of the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2020 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the activities of 

Russian national Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated 

entities pose a threat to the national interests and national security of the United States. 

Whereas Yevgeniy Prigozhin is a Russian national who has 

maintained close personal ties with Russian Federation 

President Vladimir Putin since the early 2000s; 

Whereas Yevgeniy Prigozhin is the presumed financier 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 is the financier of the Internet Research 

Agency and other organizations engaged in online influence operations; 


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•SRES 624 IS 

Whereas entities such as Wagner have been linked to the 

Government of the Russian Federation and are used to 

conduct military action, subversive operations, and 

disinformation campaigns on the Government’s behalf 

while giving it an appearance of plausible deniability; 

Whereas the Wagner Group was involved in the Russian Federation’s military takeover 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 the Washington Post has described as ‘‘the deadliest United States-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 in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, 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 


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and specialized military teams, serving ‘‘as an effective 

force multiplier’’ for Haftar’s army; 

Whereas Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated entities have 

been tied to influence operations on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation in Africa, with entities 

associated with Prigozhin reportedly operating in at least 

20 countries, including the Central African Republic, 

Madagascar, Mozambique, and Sudan; 

Whereas about 235 Russian military and private security personnel have deployed to the Central African Republic 

since 2017, some of whom are reportedly employed by the 

Wagner Group, and some of whom provide personal security for President Faustin-Archange Touade ́ra; 

Whereas Russian national Valery Zakharov, who is reportedly 

a former intelligence official, has served as a top national 

security advisor to Central African Republic President 

Faustin-Archange Touade ́ra since at least 2018; 

Whereas, in July 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 neither the Government of the Central African Republic nor the Government of the Russian Federation are 

conducting credible and thorough investigations into the 

murder of these 3 journalists; 

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 with 


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ties to Prigozhin, including Alexander Sotov, who in turn 

was reportedly in contact with Zakharov; 

Whereas companies owned by Yevgeniy Prigozhin reportedly 

had made regular payments to senior Central African Republic officials, including the Police Chief and the Minister of National Security; 

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 [United States] election processes or institutions’’; 

Whereas, on February 16, 2018, the Department of Justice 

announced the indictment of Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his 


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affiliated entities, including the Internet Research Agency, for engaging in ‘‘operations to interfere with the 

United States political system, including the 2016 United 

States presidential election’’ and conducting ‘‘information 

warfare’’ against the United States; 

Whereas, on September 20, 2018, the Department of State 

added Prigozhin, his affiliated entities, including the 

Internet Research Agency, and the Wagner Group to the 

list of persons identified as part of, or operating for or 

on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors of the 

Government of the Russian Federation under section 231 

of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9525); 

Whereas, on September 30, 2019, under Executive Order 

13848, the Department of the Treasury took additional 

steps to increase pressure on Prigozhin by designating 

physical assets—3 aircraft and a yacht—and 3 associated front companies of his; 

Whereas, on February 15, 2019, Gavin Williamson, thenUnited Kingdom Defense Secretary, said that the ‘‘clandestine use of proxies, mercenary armies like the infamous and unaccountable Wagner Group, allows the 

Kremlin to get away with murder while denying the blood 

on their hands’’; 

Whereas, on December 13, 2018, John Bolton, then-Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, affirmed that ‘‘the predatory practices pursued by China 

and Russia . . . in Africa . . . pose a significant threat 

to United States national security interests’’; and 

Whereas General Stephen J. Townsend, Commander of the 

United States Africa Command, on April 2, 2019, exVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR624.IS SR624

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pressed great ‘‘concern’’ about the Wagner group, and, 

on January 30, 2020, noted that private military contractors such as Wagner, are ‘‘leading the fight in Libya 

against the UN-backed and U.S.-recognized Government 

of National Accord’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the activities of Russian national Yevgeniy 

3 Prigozhin, his affiliated entities, and the Wagner 

4 Group pose a threat to the national interests and 

5 national security of the United States; and 

6 (2) the President, in addition to maintaining 

7 sanctions on Yevgeniy Prigozhin, his affiliated enti8 ties, and the Wagner Group, should work with Con9 gress to develop and execute a strategy drawing on 

10 the multiple instruments of United States national 

11 power available to the President, to counter the ma12 lign influence and activities of Prigozhin, the entities 

13 linked to him, and the Wagner Group. 

Æ 


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