AUGUSTA — Two Ukrainian seamen seeking political asylum in Maine are out on bail, but they had no complaints about the accommodations in the Cumberland County Jail.

“There are apartments in the Ukraine that aren’t as nice as the cells in Portland,” Victor Mantikovski said after he and Vyacheslav Rokitzk were released Tuesday on $7,000 bail raised by the Association of Ukrainian Americans of New England. They are both 23 years old.

Next Tuesday, they face a judge in Boston for their first hearing with immigration and naturalization officials.

They jumped ship on July 17 while the Russian vessel on which they worked was anchored near Portland. Once ashore, they were charged with entering the country illegally.

To be granted asylum, they must prove that they would be persecuted if they were deported. The men say they could be tried for treason back home. They also worry that they would be sent to Chernobyl to clean up after the 10-year-old nuclear reactor accident.

“If we go back, it will be very, very hard,” Rokitzk said.

They said that being a minority on the Russian boat was no picnic. They were not allowed to speak Ukrainian and lived in a part of the boat that had no electricity, water or air conditioning. Russian sailors had better living quarters, they said.

“We didn’t even have the basic necessities. No soap, no toothpaste,” Rokitzk said through a translator Tuesday.

The two decided to make a break after some drunken Russians attacked two other minority crew members, sending them to the hospital. The brawl had followed a gift of beer and vodka sent to the ship by a Portland company doing business with the Russians.

The two Ukrainians were taken ashore by a fisherman and an off-duty marine patrolman who had stopped by the ship to exchange souvenirs.

The men are now staying in Augusta with another Ukrainian who jumped ship in Portland a year ago.

Mantikovski and Rokitzk had signed up to work on the Russian fishing ship because it pays well — $2 for 12 hours of work.

For the time being, the Ukrainian sailors say they are enjoying life here, buying American clothes and trying Asian food.

When asked what the United States means, Rokitzk said, “Freedom.” Mantikovski said, “Every- thing.”