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A Russian convoy transporting heavy military equipment is headed for Crimea, reports said Saturday, in an apparent effort by Moscow to beef up its offensive in Ukraine.   The equipment was reportedly seen being transported near Kerch Bridge, also known as the Crimean bridge, which connects the Crimean Peninsula with Russia for rail and vehicle transport. Railway lories were reportedly loaded up with machinery like howitzers, heavy armored vehicles, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, trucks and fuel tanks, according to Radio Free Europe.  WHERE THE WAR IN UKRAINE STANDS AT 6-MONTH MILESTONE The transport of hefty military equipment to Crimea comes as renewed focus has been placed on the peninsula, which Russia has occupied since 2014.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that Ukrainian forces will not stop fighting until all occupying Russian forces are removed from the country – including Crimea where Russia has gained a significant stronghold. "I...

Ukrainian workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) have said Russian soldiers occupying the plant are "torturing" them to keep them silent ahead of a visit from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Ukraine’s nuclear company Energoatom said Saturday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has pushed for weeks to gain access to the site as shelling has threatened the integrity of the plant’s infrastructure and Europe’s nuclear security.  It remains unclear when the IAEA will arrive at the plant, but Director General Rafael Grossi said Friday he hopes the mission will be "very soon" and is attempting to secure a visit to the site "in the next few days." UKRAINE'S NUCLEAR AGENCY WARNS RISK OF HYDROGEN, RADIOACTIVE LEAKS FOLLOWING DAMAGE TO ZAPORIZHZHIA PLANT But according to a Telegram post by Energoatom referencing an interview the plant’s workers gave The Telegraph, there is an " atmosphere of fear at the station" as they await...

This article is part of a Fox News Digital series examining the consequences of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan one year ago this week. The international security landscape is more fragile one year after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and the U.S. withdrew its last military forces, according to national security experts.  "The principal concern about Afghanistan for the United States is that the Taliban is a hostile regime that is hunting down American allies, that has made common cause with al-Qaeda and continues to do so, that serially violates every promise they ever made about human rights and rights of girls and women in particular," Nathan Sales, former coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department and current Vandenberg Coalition advisory board member, told Fox News Digital.  "Other countries that are doing business in Afghanistan might move the needle slightly in one direction or another, but the fundamental dynamic there is ...

Ukraine’s nuclear company Energoatom on Saturday said there is an increased risk of a dangerous hydrogen or radioactive leak at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) after it was damaged by shelling in recent weeks. "As a result of periodic shelling, the infrastructure of the power plant has been damaged, there are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high," the nuclear agency said in a statement. UKRAINE RESTORES ENERGY TO ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR PLANT AMID SHELLING, WATCHDOG WARNS SECURITY STILL TOP ISSUE Shelling on or near the ZNPP has increasingly threatened Ukraine's nuclear security in recent weeks and officials have warned that damage to Europe's largest nuclear plant could prompt a catastrophe greater than the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.  Earlier this week two of the plants reactors were disconnected from the power grid when power lines were damaged by shelling and emergency protection systems were t...

An airstrike by Ethiopia's air force hit a kindergarten in the country's embattled Tigray region, causing deaths and injuries on Friday, according to local broadcasters. It was the latest escalation of a conflict that has created a humanitarian crisis for millions of people. Tigray Television quoted witnesses saying the afternoon attack hit a kindergarten called Red Kids Paradise in the Tigrayan capital of Mekele. It aired graphic images of children and adults with dismembered bodies in the aftermath of the attack. Homes near the kindergarten also were hit in the strike, broadcaster Dimtsi Weyane reported. Tigrayan officials called the airstrike "a heartless, sadistic" assault. REMEMBERING THE KABUL AIRPORT ATTACK "This vicious regime has outdone itself with today's deliberate targeting of a children's building," they said in a statement. That statement didn't say how many people were killed in the airstrike. But the director of Mekele...

Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee countered decades of delicate political terminology on Friday when she met with Taiwanese officials and referred to the island as an "independent nation," in a move sure to upset China. Blackburn, in a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and in a series of addresses online and in-person , referred to Taiwan as an independent entity. The U.S. government's official policy treats Taiwan as part of Chinese territory. "We look forward to continuing to help and support Taiwan as they push forward as an independent nation," Blackburn told Tsai in a televised meeting . Blackburn made a similar remark when she said, "I am looking forward to a wonderful visit. And yes, indeed I do remember my visit fondly in 2008, and the opportunity to get to see some of your country first-hand." SEN. BLACKBURN IN TAIWAN: CHINA'S ‘BULLYING’ TACTICS MUST STOP, US MUST CURB CCP'S ‘AGGRESSION’ The People's Republic of ...

Tropical Storm Ma-on made landfall in southern China’s Guangdong province on Thursday after bringing rain and stiff winds to Hong Kong, where the stock market was closed for the morning session due to the storm. Residents of coastal areas around the city of Maoming were urged to stay away from the shore Thursday morning as the typhoon arrived at 10:30 a.m. Ma-on was packing sustained winds of 73 miles per hour and moving slowly northwest at about 15 miles per hour, the Guangdong Meteorological Public Service Center said. It noted the storm made landfall as a typhoon but was steadily weakening. TROPICAL STORM MA-ON BRINGS HIGH WINDS, FLOODING TO HONG KONG, SOUTHERN CHINA The storm was estimated to be about 236 miles west of Hong Kong as of 2:00 p.m., according to the Hong Kong Observatory. Ma-on is expected to weaken as it moves inland toward the Guangxi region, Yunnan province and northern Vietnam. The Hong Kong government said that one person had been injured and reports of fl...