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

<DOC>
H. Res. 996

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      December 3, 2020.
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 attempted 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 dictatorship;
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, Zimbabwe, and the Central 
        African Republic;
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'';
Whereas on July 15, 2020, under Executive Orders 13848, 13694 (as amended), and 
        13661, the Department of the Treasury designated entities located in 
        Sudan, Hong Kong, and Thailand that have enabled Yevgeniy Prigozhin's 
        ability to evade United States sanctions as well as Prigozhin-linked 
        entities that have attempted to suppress and discredit protestors 
        seeking reforms in Sudan;
Whereas, on September 23, 2020, pursuant to Executive Orders 13848, 13694 (as 
        amended), and 13661, the Department of the Treasury designated a network 
        of entities and individuals working on behalf of Yevgeniy Prigozhin 
        seeking to advance Russia's influence in the Central African Republic;
Whereas, on October 15, 2020, the European Union sanctioned Yevgeniy Prigozhin 
        for engaging in ``and providing support for Wagner Group's activities in 
        Libya, which threaten the country's peace, stability and security''; 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 associated actors to 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, 
        democratic institutions, and security of the United States and its 
        allies and partners;
            (3) urges countries and entities engaging with Yevgeniy Prigozhin 
        and his affiliated entities in business or advisory capacities to cease 
        these engagements;
            (4) supports the additional designations made by the Department of 
        the Treasury on September 23, 2020, and by the European Union on October 
        15, 2020, and calls on the United States Government and the European 
        Union to continue to target the ability of Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his 
        affiliated entities to conduct operations globally and to interfere in 
        the democratic processes of the United States and its allies and 
        partners; and
            (5) 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 enforced and coordinated.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.
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