Putin signs law on fast-tracked Russian passports for Ukraine's rebel regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed has signed a law on fast-tracked Russian passports for Ukrainians who live in rebel-held territories in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The plans have drawn a rebuke from the European Union and Kiev. The Kremlin published a long list of the citizens eligible for the fast-tracked Russian passports acquisition within three months, including those who live in "certain territories" of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

The law is effective from the day of signing, May 1. Rebellions broke out against Ukrainian government rule in east Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014 shortly after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Kiev in a popular revolt.

Moscow, which also annexed Ukraine's Crimea region that year, provided military help for the separatists in the east, according to evidence gathered by Reuters, although Russian officials have denied providing material support. Last week, Putin said there was nothing wrong with easing rules for residents of Ukrainian rebel regions to receive Russian passports. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Catherine Evans)