You must be registered for see links
Disturbing footage of the impromptu publicity stunt shows the animal soaring through the skies above the Sea of Azov in southern Russia.
The donkey had been attached to a parachute before a speed boat towed it high into the air.
Reports said the beast could be heard braying loudly, as it circled over sunbathers on a beach in the Cossack village of Golubitskaya, in the Krasnodar region.
The stunt was part of an advertising campaign by several Russian entrepreneurs to attract people to their private beach, according to police spokeswoman Larisa Tuchkova.
She told reporters: "The donkey screamed and children cried. No one had the brains to call police."
Instead, people reached for their cameras and bombarded a local newspaper with phone calls, the spokeswoman added.
The Taman newspaper said: "It was put up so high into the sky that the children on the beach cried and asked their parents: 'Why did they tie a doggy to a parachute?'
"The donkey landed in an atrocious manner - it was dragged several metres along the water, after which the animal was pulled out half-alive onto the shore."
Police are investigating the stunt and the entrepreneurs responsible may face criminal charges for animal cruelty.
The Brooke is the UK's leading overseas charity dedicated to alleviating the suffering of horses, donkeys and mules.
Its advisor Kimberly Wells told Sky News Online: "This animal would have been extremely distressed, suffering immeasurable fear and pain.
"It should never have happened, and we urge tourists to act and report to the relevant authorities if they see any animal in distress."
