"An independent investigation commission, comprising specialists from the United States, Sweden, Lithuania, and Latvia, has started working today," said Shota Utiashvili, head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry Analysis Department.
Peacekeepers said earlier Monday Georgia's refusal to join monitoring efforts in South Ossetia is hindering the investigation into the missile incident that occurred a week ago.
Yury Vereshchak, an aide to the Joint Peacekeeping Forces commander, said peacekeepers were seeking to collect as much additional data as possible to get a full picture of what happened on August 6.
"The only thing that is impeding their work is the refusal by the Georgian military to join the monitoring efforts," he said.
Georgia's Defense Ministry earlier said it had proof that a Russian Su-24 Fencer tactical bomber violated Georgia's airspace last Monday, and fired a Raduga Kh-58 (NATO codename AS-11 Kitler) anti-radar missile at a Georgian radar near a village 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) northwest of the Georgian capital, near the border with Georgia's self-declared republic of South Ossetia.
The 640-kilogram (1,400-pound) missile did not explode, but the incident has further fueled tensions between Russia and Tbilisi, whose relations have been strained ever since pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power on the back of the so called rose revolution in early 2004.
Russia has vehemently denied involvement in the August 6 incident, demanding a thorough probe and saying it was "a new provocation" staged by Tbilisi to obstruct the regional peace process.
The Russian Air Force chief of staff said Thursday Georgia's accusation that Russia had violated its airspace was "political speculation."
Georgian experts are insisting that it was a Russian-made anti-radar guided missile, and that the kind of plane sighted in the area at the time - Su-24 - is not in service with the Georgian Air Force.
However, the commander of joint peacekeeping forces in the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict zone said peacekeepers could not identify the missile's type or origin, since Georgia had already destroyed it.
