Even before its ongoing clash with Russia, Ukraine was an economic basket case. Now, having lost Crimea and facing the prospect of losing swaths of land in its industrial east, Ukraine’s new government faces Russian gas debts of more than $2 billion, among other expenses. The economy will shrink by at least 3% this year, according to official sources, although some analysts think that it could contract by as much as 5%.

As Ukrainian and pro-Russian troops edge closer to all-out war, there is increasing desperation in Kiev. Today, the defense ministry trumpeted its 100-million-hryvnia ($8.9 million) fundraising drive, a big chunk of which came from mobile users donating 5 hryvnia at a time via a special text number. Meanwhile, the finance ministry also announced the issue of 1.1 billion hryvnia ($97 million) in war bonds to help finance the cash-strapped military.

The two-year bonds, which carry a 7% coupon, will attract only the most patriotic investors. After all, last week Ukraine’s government issued three-month bills with a yield of nearly 10%. Of course, this also implies that investors are keen to hold hryvnia-denominated assets at all. “You’ll find more liquidity in the Sahara,” an analyst told the Wall Street Journal.