They supply Ukraine with weapons from a secret airfield

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Washington (CNN) --

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, went last week to an undisclosed airfield near the Ukraine border that has been turned into a weapons shipping hub, a senior US official said. Department of Defense, seeing firsthand the multinational effort to get weapons into Ukraine amid Russia's unprovoked invasion.

During his stay at the airfield, Milley met with troops and staff and reviewed shipping activity, the official said Friday.

The venue has become a hive of activity in recent days, going from a handful of daily flights to as many as 17, the field's maximum capacity.

The location of the airport remains a secret to protect shipments of weapons, including anti-armor missiles, to Ukraine.

The Russian military has not targeted these shipments once they enter Ukraine, the official said, but there is some concern that Russia may start targeting deliveries as its assault progresses.

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Since before the Russian invasion began late last month, the skies over Europe have been filled with military cargo planes from the United States and other countries, particularly C-17s, the backbone of the US airlift fleet. .

The flights have been repositioning troops along NATO's eastern flank, but also moving weapons to transfer points where they can be delivered to Ukraine.

The pace of flights has only increased.

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The US European Command (EUCOM) is at the center of the bulk shipment operation, using its liaison network with allies and partners to coordinate "in real time" the shipment of materials to Ukraine said a second defense official.

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EUCOM is also coordinating with other countries, including the UK, on ​​the handover process "to ensure that we use our resources most effectively to support the Ukrainians in an organized way," the official added.

Help for Ukraine

Since the Russian invasion began, 14 countries have sent security aid to Ukraine, the official said, some of which have rarely sent such important equipment.

The "vast majority" of a $350 million US security aid package has already been delivered to Ukraine, according to the official, just a week after it was officially approved by the White House.

Roughly $240 million of the package has reached Ukraine, with the rest due to arrive within days and perhaps weeks, "but no more," the official said Friday.

The components that have already been delivered include "the most necessary capabilities, such as anti-armour."

Once in possession of the weapons, the Ukrainians have used them to slow down and cripple Russian attacks in different parts of Ukraine.

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"I think all of us have been tremendously impressed by how effectively the Ukrainian Armed Forces have used the equipment we have provided," the official said.

Perhaps most notably, a massive Russian convoy traveling 40 miles north of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has barely moved for days.

"We know that they have carried out attacks on that convoy, that those attacks were effective in slowing it down and stopping it," another senior defense official said Friday.

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The team being sent is a team in which the Ukrainians have already received training, including some "just-in-time" training in late December and early January, the senior official said, adding that the Ukrainians can "use competent" the vast majority of the military equipment being shipped.

The speed with which the US is now delivering weapons to Ukraine is dramatically faster than it was just two months ago.

Most of a $200 million package approved in late December was delivered within a month, though some ammunition still needs to be shipped, the official said.

Meanwhile, the entire $350 million package, which the official described as the largest presidential reduction in history, should be completed within days or weeks.

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