The report said the woman identified her kidnappers as ethnic Chechens.
Chechnya is a breakaway region of southern Russia famed for its criminal gangs. Russia is openly backing the opposition to Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev and tensions in the restive region have been running high lately.
The report, aired by the Ostankino TV network, said the kidnappers tried to force the woman to make a statement accusing Yeltsin's government of organizing an "anti-Dudayev'' campaign. It said the kidnappers threatened her family.
Quoting the unnamed victim, Ostankino said the woman was kidnapped Tuesday, held for 24 hours in a "villa'' outside Moscow and tortured. She was then driven into a forest and abandoned, it said.
It said the woman, a former member of parliament, had been hospitalized.
The report did not give her position on the presidential staff or identify her any further.
As tensions have escalated in Chechnya, so has the rhetoric on all sides.
Saying Russia is about to invade his tiny mountain republic, Dudayev called a general mobilization Thursday. His Foreign Ministry said the attack would be timed to coincide with a U.S. invasion of Haiti to minimize international attention.
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