A Russia-ordered ceasefire got underway on Tuesday in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, amid reports by activists that two civilians were killed in regime air strikes on the enclave. Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced on Monday that a five-hour humanitarian corridor would be opened in Eastern Ghouta to give civilians the opportunity to leave. The announcement was made shortly after a UN ceasefire failed to take hold in Eastern Ghouta, and residents and aid groups said such unilateral pauses are not internationally monitored. The enclaves residents fear they could face harassment and possibly arrest if they go into regime areas, after years of living in the rebel-held enclave. “Today it is very calm. It is as if they are abiding by the truce they spoke about,” said a Ghouta resident in a voice message from the town of Hammourieh. “Nothing happened in our area, and we haven’t heard anything around us.” A witness said ahead of the ceasefire that people in Douma were going out to buy supplies. “Residents have rushed out of the shelters with their things to go and check on their houses. They are just afraid of being stabbed in the back,” said Moayed Hafi, a member of the civil defense rescue service in Eastern Ghouta from the town of Saqba. “There is are reconnaissance planes flying high. We don’t know why they are there. May God protect us,” he told Reuters. Ingy Sedky, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said humanitarian corridors need to be well planned and must be implemented with the consent of parties on all sides. "This is essential so that people can leave safely, if they chose to do so," she said. "And for those who decide to leave, all measure should be taken to provide assistance, protection and shelter to them. And those who remain must be protected from any attacks." A weekend resolution unanimously approved by the UN Security Council for a 30-day ceasefire across Syria failed to stop the carnage in Eastern Ghouta where more than 500 people have been killed since last week. At least 34 people were killed on Monday by airstrikes and shelling, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UN estimates that nearly 400,000 people live in dire conditions from the siege in Eastern Ghouta, which has been under intensive bombing by regime forces for weeks. Rami Abdul Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violence has dramatically declined in Eastern Ghouta overnight but reported a number of shells on Tuesday morning. It was not immediately clear where they landed or who fired them, Abdul Rahman said. Firas Abdullah, a Douma activist, said a bomb landed in the town after the pause began, as well as three ground missiles. Civilians caught in the violence have mocked Putins order of a five-hour open corridor, saying it gives only a couple of hours of calm before violence resumes. The Eastern Ghouta residents also fear their region would meet the same fate as the eastern, rebel-held half of the city of Aleppo, where a similar Russian-ordered pause in 2016 called on residents to evacuate the area and for gunmen to lay down their arms. A full ground assault followed, finally bringing Aleppo under regime control.