Syrian men walk past destroyed buildings in the mountainous city of Zabadani, in the western countryside of Damascus, capital of Syria, on April 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

MOSCOW, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Russia registered a total of 12 violations of ceasefire in Syria in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.

The violations were recorded in the provinces of Damascus (2), Hama (9), and Daraa (1), the ministry's center for Syrian reconciliation said in a daily bulletin.

Most cases of firing from small arms have been registered in the areas controlled by militants of the ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, the document said.

Meanwhile, the situation in the de-escalation zones is assessed as stable, the bulletin said.

On May 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum on the creation of four safe zones (de-escalation zones) in Syria, which are guaranteed to be free of battles and airstrikes for six months. The agreement went into force on May 6.