IV 
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 Rus-
sian national Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated enti-
ties 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 Com-
pany (PMC) Wagner, a Russian mercenary organization 
staffed by current and former military and intelligence 
officers, and the Internet Research Agency (IRA), an or-
ganization engaged in online influence operations; 
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Whereas the IRA has conducted online information oper-
ations against the United States in an attempt to sow di-
vision 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 Fed-
eration’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 sup-
port to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria since 
2015, fighting alongside its forces and helping it recap-
ture 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 dead-
liest U.S.-Russia clash since the Cold War’’; 
Whereas the Wagner Group has supported Khalifa Haftar 
and his ‘‘Libyan National Army’’ by providing merce-
naries, artillery, tanks, drones, and ammunition, with 
Yevgeniy Prigozhin personally attending a meeting be-
tween 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 
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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 Nicola´s 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 polit-
ical 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 se-
curity detail for Central African Republic President 
Faustin-Archange Touade´ra, including Russian national 
Valery Zakharov, a former security official with close ties 
to the Wagner Group, who serves as the National Secu-
rity 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 offi-
cers 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; 
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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 vio-
lence 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 tar-
get social media audiences in the United States with the 
goal of inflaming racial tensions and provoking social un-
rest 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 serv-
ices in support of, senior officials of the Russian Federa-
tion’’; 
Whereas, on June 20, 2017, the Department of the Treasury 
designated the Wagner Group under Executive Order 
13660, ‘‘Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contrib-
uting to the Situation in Ukraine’’, for being ‘‘responsible 
for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indi-
rectly, actions or policies that threaten the peace, secu-
rity, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of 
Ukraine’’; 
Whereas, on March 15, 2018, the Department of the Treas-
ury designated Yevgeniy Prigozhin, his affiliated entities, 
including the Internet Research Agency, and his subordi-
nates under Executive Order 13694, ‘‘Blocking the Prop-
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erty of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Mali-
cious Cyber-Enabled Activities,’’ for being ‘‘involved in 
interfering with [U.S.] election processes or institutions’’; 
and 
Whereas current and former Administration officials have af-
firmed 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 Gov-
ernment of the Russian Federation and its proxy ac-
tors to harmfully influence the domestic politics of 
other countries and sow division among their peo-
ples, 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 affili-
ated entities for continued interference in United 
States democratic processes and in the democratic 
processes of United States allies and partners; 
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