Putin gifts American man motorcycle during Alaska Summit. Here’s why

A man from Alaska’s Anchorage region has received a new motorcycle from Russian officials, who said it was a “personal gift” from Vladimir Putin.

The event took place against the backdrop of last week’s summit in Alaska between the Russian President and US President Donald Trump.

ALSO READ | Why Putin’s bodyguards carried ‘poop suitcase’ to Alaska summit with Trump

The motorcycle, a Ural, was given to Mark Warren by Andrei Ledenev, a staff member of the Russian embassy.

But who is Mark Warren? And what made Putin give him this gift?

Find out here:

Who is Mark Warren?

Mark Warren is a retired fire inspector who was handed the keys to a new Ural motorcycle by a staff member of the Russian embassy in the United States.

“I have to say that this is a personal gift from the President of the Russian Federation,” embassy official Andrei Ledenev told Warren.

More from Explainers

How China is scaling up Russian oil orders as Trump turns the screws on India China keeps up Russian oil purchases as Indian demand falls, say analysts

Warren, white-haired and wearing glasses, was seen climbing onto the motorcycle with Ledenev sitting behind him and another man in the sidecar as they set off for a short ride.

🇷🇺🏍️ An unexpected twist in Anchorage: Mark Warren, longed for spare parts for his Russian ‘Ural’ bike but couldn’t get them due to sanctions, just received a brand-new motorcycle — from Vladimir Putin via Russian diplomats

Sanctions just spark a presidential gift! pic.twitter.com/YIJzTVCFsm

— RT (@RT_com) August 18, 2025

“It’s night and day,” Warren said. “I like my old one, but this one is obviously much better.”

“I’m speechless, it’s amazing. Thank you very much.”

Why did Putin gift Warren a bike?

The surprise gift came after an encounter between Warren and Russian state television Channel 1 reporters in Anchorage before the summit.

He soon appeared in their news report on the effects of sanctions placed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, telling them that maintaining his bike had become costly and spare parts were increasingly difficult to find.

Warren told journalist Valentin Bogdanov that he had trouble getting replacements, including a new starter, as the plant was “located in Ukraine.”

The Ural company was first set up in Soviet Russia and is now based in Washington state.

On its website, Ural states that it condemned Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and that “production ground to a halt due to inability to import components and export bikes out of Russia caused by international sanctions laid on the country.”

How did the bike reach Warren?

Warren said he was first told about it during a phone call from one of the journalists who had interviewed him.

The reporter explained that the video had gone viral in Russia and even reached President Vladimir Putin, who decided to give him a new Ural motorcycle.

Not long after, Warren got another call, this time from someone in the Russian government.

“We’re gonna get you a bike,” he recalled being told, speaking to Anchorage Daily News. His response at the time was, “OK, that’s fine.”

On Friday night, once the Trump-Putin summit had ended and both leaders had left, Warren received yet another call. This time, a Russian official told him, “We have your bike. It’s on the base, but we’re trying to figure out how to get it to you.”

Warren later learned that the motorcycle had been flown in from Russia on the same jet as Putin.

The next day, a group of Russian officials and a cameraman met him in a car park. A large sheet covered something that clearly looked like a bike.

“Looks like a bike,” Warren said cautiously as he walked up, in a moment captured on Russian state TV.

With a quick pull, the officials revealed a khaki green Ural motorcycle.

“This is a personal gift from the president of the Russian Federation,” one of the men told him.

Warren later found out that the motorcycle had been built on August 12, suggesting it was arranged quickly. Footage of the handover has been shown on Russian television and reported by news agencies.

According to The Moscow Times, Russian media presented the gift as a sign of goodwill from Moscow.

A document Warren shared with Alaska’s News Source from the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the United States stated: “The Embassy of the Russian Federation in the United States of America on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir V. Putin, transfers as an act of giving the following property: Motorcycle ‘Gear-Up,’….”