MOSCOW, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria came under massive shelling Tuesday, the center said in a statement late Tuesday night.

"(The) Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria came under massive shelling by illegal armed groups operating in (the) East Ghouta area, causing significant infrastructure damage and casualties among civilians," the statement said.

Residential areas and hotels were also under attack, which killed several civilians.

"There are no casualties among the Russian military personnel," it said.

The center, founded in Feb. 2016, is a peace monitoring and humanitarian organization jointly run by Russia and Turkey.

It aims to speed up the peace negotiations between the Syrian Government and opposition groups.