During last week’s summit in Anchorage between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, an Alaska man received an unexpected gift from the Russian government — a new motorcycle.
Mark Warren, a retired fire inspector for the Municipality of Anchorage, received a Ural Gear Up motorcycle with a sidecar from Putin’s delegation. The gift followed a television interview that unexpectedly made him a viral figure in Russia.
The Ural brand, created in 1941 in western Siberia, now assembles its motorcycles in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan, and distributes them through a U.S. base in Woodinville, Washington.
A viral encounter
Warren was already familiar with the bikes. He had purchased his first Ural from a neighbor and often rode it around Anchorage. A week before the summit, while running errands on the motorcycle, he was stopped by a Russian television crew.
He spoke to them about the challenges of finding replacement parts, citing supply shortages. Days later, the interview spread widely on Russian media.
“It went viral, it went crazy, and I have no idea why, because I’m really just a super-duper normal guy,” Warren said Tuesday. “They just interviewed some old guy on a Ural, and for some reason they think it’s cool.”
Vladinir Putin personally gifted an Alaskan man a brand new Russian built Ural motorcycle
After Russian TV spotted his ageing Soviet-era bike in Anchorage during the Presidents meeting
“I’m speechless, it’s amazing.” pic.twitter.com/WBKm3Qcatf
— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) August 20, 2025
On Aug. 13, two days before the Trump-Putin summit on the war in Ukraine, Warren received a call from the same journalist who interviewed him. The reporter informed him that Russian officials had decided to give him a motorcycle.
Warren later received paperwork showing the gift had been arranged through the Russian Embassy in the United States. The embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A surprising delivery
At first, Warren doubted the offer was genuine. He thought it might be a scam. His doubts lifted after Trump and Putin departed Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson following their three-hour meeting last Friday. Soon after, Warren got another call confirming the motorcycle had arrived.
‼️🇷🇺🇺🇸 #Putin gifted a new motorcycle to an #American who couldn't find parts for his old one due to sanctions against Russia — Mash
"The president heard about American Mark Warren from Anchorage. The biker rode a 'Ural' motorcycle around Alaska and got tired of problems… pic.twitter.com/7iuMon5iCA
— Maimunka News (@MaimunkaNews) August 18, 2025
The next day, he was directed to a hotel in Anchorage for the handoff. He went with his wife and found six men, who he assumed were Russians, waiting in the parking lot. Beside them stood an olive-green Ural motorcycle with a sidecar, valued at $22,000.
“I dropped my jaw,” Warren said. “I went, ’You’ve got to be joking me.’”
Photo op and concerns
In exchange, Warren said, the Russians only asked to take pictures and conduct a brief interview. Two reporters and a consulate representative climbed onto the motorcycle with him while a cameraman filmed as he drove slowly around the lot.
Even as he accepted the bike, Warren admitted to some unease. He worried it could be seen as politically charged. I don’t want a “bunch of haters coming after me that I got a Russian motorcycle,” he said. “I don’t want this for my family.”
While signing the paperwork, Warren noticed the motorcycle had been manufactured on Aug. 12 — just one day before the journalist’s call. “The obvious thing here is that it rolled off the showroom floor and slid into a jet within probably 24 hours,” he said.
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