European markets such as the Russian armored convoy seem to be heading for Kyiv

LONDON – European stocks are expected to decline on Tuesday amid reports that a significant armored Russian convoy is heading to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

The FTSE index of the United Kingdom opened 46 points lower at 7,414, the German DAX 129 points lower at 14,351, the French CAC 40 decreased by 63 points to 6,600 and the Italian FTSE MIB 174 points lower at 25,175 points, according to IG data.

Russia appears to have stepped up its commitment to its overnight invasion of Ukraine with reports and satellite imagery of a 40-mile (65km) long convoy of Russian military vehicles heading for Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. .

The satellite images were taken by Maxar Technologies on Monday and show a convoy of armored trucks, sometimes traveling two or three vehicles in one direction along the way. However, official sources have not confirmed the convoy.

Other images from Maxar suggest additional military activity in southern Belarus, which borders Ukraine and is an ally of Russia, with the deployment of ground forces and helicopter units for ground strikes. Again, official sources did not confirm whether these units were preparing to join Russian forces in the attack on Ukraine. There were unconfirmed reports Monday that Belarus may be preparing to help the Russian invasion.

Asia-Pacific markets rose mostly on Tuesday, while US stock futures also rose in overnight trading ahead of the first trading session in March as investors continued to watch the battles between Russia and Ukraine.

Profits in Europe come from Bayer, Covestro, HelloFresh and Zalando. The data released include retail sales in Germany in January and final data on euro area production activity in February.