Russia ? Seven sailors rescued from a mini-submarine hours before their air supply would have run out faced a new problem Monday: Confined to a hospital, they wanted out.

“The crew were almost complaining about being put in a general ward. ‘We’re OK, we just want to go home,”‘ a correspondent for Rossiya television reported in a newscast.

The men, trapped 600 feet under the Bering Sea, were rescued Sunday after a remote-controlled British “Scorpio” underwater craft cut through cables and fishing nets that had ensnared their mini-sub since Thursday. They had an estimated six to 12 hours of air remaining when they finally surfaced.

They also had been running short of water, the men said Monday in comments on Rossiya and NTV television.

Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov told reporters that Russia has robotic vehicles similar to the British Scorpio, but it would have taken longer to bring them to the scene.

Ivanov said a special commission already had been appointed to analyze actions by the Pacific Fleet and the Defense Ministry, and added that those involved would undergo a thorough debriefing.