MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has sent a letter to United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to clarify the set of humanitarian measures the Russian center for reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria is taking in Eastern Ghouta, the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax on Thursday.
The letter, which was forwarded to de Mistura via diplomatic channels, says that "with the aim of immediately rescuing the civilian population, the Russian center for reconciliation of the opposing sides made a decision jointly with the Syrian authorities to take measures to ensure civilians' exit and the evacuation of ill and injured people from Eastern Ghouta," according to the Defense Ministry said.
For that end, starting from February 27, daily humanitarian pauses will be established from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. near the populated localities of Douma and Arbil during which Syrian government forces will not deliver any strikes on terrorists, the ministry said.
"A humanitarian corridor for civilians' passage with the exit to the area of the populated locality of Mukhayyam al-Wafideen has been prepared with the help of the Syrian Society of the Red Crescent," it said.
Leaflets describing the route civilians can use to leave the enclave and explaining the rules for crossing via Syrian government forces' checkpoints are being distributed. This information is also being provided via loudspeakers and SMS-messages, the ministry said.
"In his letter to de Mistura, Sergei Shoigu highlighted the fact that "simultaneously, there is a proposal to open humanitarian corridors from Al-Tanf and Rukban and also establish an international commission to assess the humanitarian situation in al-Raqqah," the ministry said.