When 66-year-old Mark Warren first heard that Russian President Vladimir Putin intended to give him a brand-new motorcycle, he assumed it was some kind of outlandish scam. “It sounded completely bats**t crazy,” Warren admitted. But against all odds, it turned out to be true. Putin personally flew a motorbike with a sidecar into Alaska during his 2018 summit with Donald Trump, and Russian officials later handed it over to Warren in a hotel parking lot in Anchorage.
Warren, a retired fire inspector and lifelong motorcycle enthusiast, is still struggling to make sense of the bizarre gesture. “I’m dumbfounded,” he told the Daily Mail. “It’s super cool, you know? Such a unique bike. I guess I should probably write Putin a thank-you letter or something, but I haven’t. I’ve been too busy, and it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
The unexpected gift was not the result of any backroom deal or hidden connection. Warren is quick to stress that he has no ties to Russia, did not request the motorcycle, and wants nothing to do with politics. “I didn’t do any nefarious deals with Putin,” he said. “I don’t know anyone in Russia, and I want the war in Ukraine to end.” Instead, the strange chain of events began with his passion for Ural motorcycles, a Russian-made brand with only a few dozen riders in Alaska.
Warren had been riding his older Ural through Anchorage when two Russian journalists spotted him. They were intrigued by his bike (built on a design dating back to World War II) and struck up a conversation about his difficulties finding parts, especially a new starter. Their segment aired in Russia and quickly went viral, catching the attention of the Kremlin.
Soon afterward, Warren began receiving phone calls from Russian officials telling him that Putin himself wanted to provide him with a new bike. Skeptical at first, Warren dismissed the idea as absurd, but the officials insisted. When Putin flew to Alaska for his meeting with Trump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the new Ural arrived with him, The Independent reported.
The day after the summit, Warren was invited to the Lakeview Hotel in Anchorage, where Russian diplomat Andrei Ledenev presented him with the motorcycle. “This is a personal gift from the President of the Russian Federation,” he was told. One of the officials even asked Warren to ride it slowly around the parking lot while they watched.
The new Ural closely resembled his old one, though with a few updated details. Ural motorcycles are notoriously quirky machines, with only about 42 horsepower and a challenging sidecar design that can cause the bike to lift dangerously in sharp right turns, according to ABC News. Still, Warren appreciates their history: they were modeled on old BMW designs and were once used by the Soviet military in World War II, sometimes even outfitted with machine guns.
The paperwork showed the bike had rolled off the factory line in Sverdlovsk, Russia, on August 12. For now, though, it remains parked at Warren’s home. Until he can secure a title and insurance, the strange presidential gift is staying under wraps in his outbuilding. “It’s unique,” Warren said. “For sure, it turns heads wherever you go.”