MOSCOW, March 8. /TASS/. Illegal armed groups have broken the ceasefire eight times in the Idlib de-escalation zone in the past 24 hours, Rear Admiral Oleg Zhuravlev, the chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Parties in Syria, said at a briefing on Sunday.

"Eight ceasefire violations by illegal armed groups have been documented Over the past 24 hours," he said adding that the militants had opened fire on inhabited localities in the regions of Aleppo, Latakia and Idlib.

Apart from that, Zhuravlev said that the Russian military police had conducted patrols along five routes in the regions of Aleppo and al-Hasakah. Besides, the Russian aircraft patrolled the area taking off from Metras airfield.

In the past 24 hours, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Parties in Syria carried out three humanitarian missions in the regions of Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. A total of 825 food sets, with a cumulative weight of over 3.9 tonnes, were handed out to Syrians in need. Russian military doctors provided medical services to 274 Syrian citizens in the cities of Kobani in Aleppo province and of al-Qamishli in al-Hasakah provinces.

Idlib is the only Syrian region that has been controlled by illegal armed groups since 2012. A northern de-escalation zone was set up in Idlib in 2017 to give shelter to militants who refused to surrender arms in Eastern Ghouta and Syria’s southern regions.

The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.