Russian president Vladimir Putin orders daily ceasefires in Eastern Ghouta

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a daily humanitarian pause in fighting in the Eastern Ghouta enclave in Syria.

According to Russia’s defence minister, it will start on Tuesday, and will include the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" to allow civilians to leave.

He said more details on the corridor would be released soon.

Sergei Shoigu said in a statement on Monday that a ceasefire would begin on Tuesday in Damascus and would take place from 9am until 2pm every day.

The announcement came after at least 29 people were killed in eastern Ghouta, despite the UN security council resolution passed on Saturday that demanded an end to the fighting.

The rebel-held area has been under intense bombardment by the Syrian government, with Russian backing, for over a week.

Russia is a key ally of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, whose regime forces continued to defy international pleas for a ceasefire on Monday.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously called for a 30-day ceasefire on Saturday.

The resolution demanded that "all parties cease hostilities without delay" to allow aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

Russia had been accused of delaying the UN vote for several days by asking for changes to be made to the draft.

What is happening in the Eastern Ghouta?

Reports on Monday morning spoke of renewed bombardment of the enclave, where some 393,000 civilians are trapped.

READ MORE: 500 dead after week long intensive air bombardments in Syria

The Syria Civil Defence, whose rescue workers are known as the White Helmets, said nine civilians were killed in a strike on one building in Douma. A monitoring group said the victims were from the same family.

The violence highlights the Syrian government’s desire, alongside its allies in Moscow and Tehran, to score a military victory in the area, which has been under a tightening siege for nearly a year and is strategically significant due to its proximity to the capital, Damascus.

It has also laid bare the inability of the UN to enforce demands for a ceasefire or the lifting of sieges.

On Sunday, at least 20 civilians were killed in government air and artillery attacks, according to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), a charity that operates hospitals in the enclave.

Casualties were also reported following what the opposition newspaper Enab Baladi reported was a ground offensive by pro-government forces that rebels repelled.