Brussels, 30/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - Russia and Georgia each have to bear their share of the responsibility for the war in August 2008, but it was Georgia which began the military offensive in South Ossetia, before any Russian incursion, the independent international commission of investigation into the war in Georgia has concluded. The final version of the report, ordered by the EU, was presented in Brussels on Wednesday 30 September. The shelling of Tshkinvali in South Ossetia by Georgian forces in the night of 7 to 8 August 2008 marked the start of the large-scale armed conflict in Georgia, with Russian forces not, at that moment, in South Ossetia (as Georgia has claimed), says a group of experts led by Swiss Heidi Tagliavini. The, initially legal ,Russian response to the Georgian attack exceeded the limits of what is reasonable, the investigation notes. The diplomatic and military manoeuvrings of Russia in the months prior to the war also helped increase tension and prepare the way for the conflict, the experts say. During the five days of fighting, the Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian armies all contravened international humanitarian law, the report states. On Wednesday, both parties welcomed the findings of the investigation. Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said that the report “confirms what we have always known about those who started the war and bear responsibility for it, that is to say, Georgia”. The Georgian authorities say that the report confirms that Russian had been “preparing the conflict for a long time”. The report is available at: http://www.ceiig.ch/Report.html (H.B./transl.rt)