NEW YORK, May 20 – A petition calling for the designation of Russia as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism“ for its alleged covert operations in Ukraine collected more than 100,000 signatures, a threshold that now requires an official response from the White House.

The petition, posted on the ‘We the People’ section of the whitehouse.gov website, was started by a resident of Washington, DC on April 23. It collected 102,190 signatures as of late May 20.

“We did it!” Michael Ratushnyy, a former Ukrainian lawmaker, wrote on his Facebook page. “Ukrainians living overseas treated this in a very responsible way over the past seven days. This is our common victory!”

A petition must collect at least 100,000 signatures within 30-day period for officials of the US Presidential Administration to comment on it. Anyone, not only residents of the US, can register to support the petition.

“In its unannounced war against Ukraine, Russia relies on covert operations which fall squarely within the definition of "international terrorism" under 18 U.S.C. § 2331,” the petition said.

“Specifically, armed operatives of Russia, acting under disguise, attempt to influence the policy of Ukrainian government by intimidation or coercion.”

“They also try to affect the conduct of a government by assassinations and kidnapping, taking by force government buildings, police posts and military bases of Ukraine.”

“This activity is being conducted on large scale and over prolonged time period, despite condemnation by the USA, G-7, NATO, EU and UN.”

The designation ‘State Sponsors of Terrorism’ is applied by the US Department of State to countries which have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism." Countries currently on the list include Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria and face strict sanctions.

The sanctions usually include a ban on arms-related exports and sales, controls over exports of dual-use items, prohibition on economic assistance and imposition of miscellaneous financial and other restrictions.

The ‘We the People’ section of whitehouse.gov was launched in September 2011 for petitioning the current administration's policy experts. (ob/ez)