War Museum invites you to a meeting with the family and loved ones of soldier Oryst "Sybiryak" Bilinchuk-Portyak of the 4th Operational Brigade named after Hero of Ukraine Serhii Mykhalchuk "Rubizh", who was killed on June 9, 2025.
The event is dedicated to the story of three generations of the Bilinchuk family, who fought for Ukraine and whose fate was marked by two wars.
Oryst’s grandfather, Vasyl Bilinchuk (whose nom de guerre “Sybiryak” he received after escaping exile in Siberia), was a machine gunner in the UPA and a guard for the district leadership of the OUN Security Service. He was killed in 1952 in an ambush, when his newborn son was just two months old. Vasyl’s brother, Dmytro Bilinchuk (nom de guerre “Khmara” (Cloud)), was the leader of the Kosiv District OUN leadership and was executed by NKVD officers in Lukianivka Prison in 1953.
Oryst’s father is Vasyl Portyak, a renowned writer, screenwriter, and member of the Ukrainian Association of Cinematographers. He authored the screenplays for the films The Undefeated (2000), Cherry Nights (1992), The Company of Heroes (2004), Assassination. An Autumn Murder in Munich (1995), and many others. His short stories were included in the anthology Ukrainian Short Prose of the 20th Century. His short stories were included in the anthology Ukrainian Short Prose of the 20th Century.
Oryst Bilinchuk-Portyak was a graduate of the Department of Film and Television Arts at the Institute of Journalism, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, he joined the Hospitallers medical battalion, and later continued his service in the Rubizh Brigade. As a combat medic, he saved his comrades, and on June 10, 2025, was killed by the enemy while evacuating the wounded.
The story of the family will be shared by Oryst Bilinchuk-Portyak’s mother, Larysa Bilinchuk; his wife, Yuliia Bilinchuk; his sister, Alisa Kropyvka; his nephew, Liubomyr Ovchynnikov; as well as poet, veteran, and childhood friend Olena Herasymiuk.
Admission is free.
