Moscow, Nov 21 (IANS/EFE): Authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine Friday said almost 5,000 people have been killed in the armed conflict that broke out last April between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian Army.

Donetsk parliament speaker Andrei Purgin told the Russian Interfax news agency the number of fatalities was close to 5,000.

He dismissed the possibility of an agreement with the authorities in Kiev that would keep the separatist regions in the east within Ukraine, even with a special status for the breakaway republics.

“With that number of deaths, what federal state can be negotiated?,” he asked.

Purgin also condemned the bombing of residential areas in the DPR.

Separatists in Donetsk Friday said that, over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian army gunfire continued pounding residential neighborhoods of the regional capital.

According to the DPR ministry of emergency, six residential buildings were damaged as a result of these attacks.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said a soldier was killed and 18 were wounded in the latest clashes in eastern Ukraine.

The army also denounced new attacks by the pro-Russian separatists against the airport in Donetsk, the greatest source of tension since the outbreak of the conflict.

Thursday, the UN reported that the armed conflict in Ukraine had killed 4,317 people and left 9,921 injured.

Despite a ceasefire agreed Sep 5, hostilities have not stopped in the east of the country and an average of 13 people have died each day, according to the UN.