The first Mother Heroine in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug—the title was awarded to a resident of the Bolshezemelskaya Tundra
У Elena Vylko and her husband Vasily 12 children, The family leads a traditional nomadic lifestyle as reindeer herders, is not part of any community, and lives in isolation. When the regional governor decided to visit them in the spring, they had to search for the family using their coordinates.
"Elena Pavlovna is a caring and loving mother. She is responsible for gathering firewood and water, preparing food, repairing clothes and shoes, doing laundry, cleaning the tent, and caring for the children, who are always neat and well-fed. She tans skins and furs and sews traditional fur outerwear and shoes for the whole family." — the district governor wrote about the woman Yuri Bezdudny.
The couple met as children. The Vylko family lives in a timber-frame house, which is easy to build and very warm. The men tend the reindeer and herd the herd; their father taught his sons to drive a team, shoot accurately, and build tents. The daughters help their mother run the household.
When asked about their desire to move to the city, they laugh. "I'm saying I don't need a city. When I need one, they'll find it." — the head of the family told the journalists who arrived with the governor.