Russian President Vladimir Putin, following an international outcry, has ordered a daily five-hour cease-fire and a creation of a “humanitarian corridor” to allow civilians to leave the rebel-held enclave of eastern-Ghouta. “Following the order of the President of Russian Federation, with the aim of eliminating casualties among the civilian population of eastern Ghouta, a daily humanitarian pause is being introduced from February 28, that is tomorrow, from 09:00 until 14:00.” / “A humanitarian corridor will be created for the exit of civilians. The coordinates (of the corridor) have been prepared and will be announced in the near future,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
The battle in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus that is controlled by Islamist militants that oppose President Bashar al-Assad, has been labelled as one of the bloodiest offensives of Syria’s civil war – as militants have constantly and indiscriminately been firing mortar shells toward the civilian populations of Damascus, with Assad’s Air Force responding with one of the heaviest bombardments since the civil war began. The decision by Moscow to force a daily five-hour ceasefire was warmly welcomed by western diplomats, that after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding a truce that bore no fruit, as it was ignored by the warring parties.