Lada Koroleva was 19 years old when a photo of her spread across all of Russia.
She walked through the streets of Rostov-on-Don pushing a stroller. Inside was her seven-month-old daughter. No one yet knew her full story, but that image was enough for people to nickname her Rostov’s heroic mother.
Months passed, and her name disappeared from the news. Until she reappeared, this time in the Moscow metro. She was no longer pushing a stroller down a quiet street. She delivered food orders through train cars and up stairways, with her two young daughters always nearby.
She had no one to leave them with. So she took them with her, shift after shift, amid the cold and the rush of deliveries.
The photo went viral for a second time. And with fame came criticism too; some accused her of exposing her daughters to attract attention. No one first asked how many alternatives she had.
She left that job shortly afterward, when the delivery company began falling behind on payments. She told a Russian outlet that she was looking for something different, perhaps part-time work, perhaps house cleaning. Something that would allow her to keep caring for her daughters while earning what she needed for both of them.
It did not take a grand gesture to move an entire country. All she had to do was keep walking, with her daughters holding her hands, when everything suggested she should stop.
