An Alaskan retiree has found himself at the centre of an international oddity after Vladimir Putin unexpectedly gifted him a brand-new $22,000 motorcycle, leaving him bewildered as to why the Russian president even knew who he was.
Mark Warren, a 72-year-old retired fire inspector from Anchorage, was going about his everyday life when he was suddenly thrust into the global spotlight. His story began innocuously enough: a week before Putin’s high-profile visit to Alaska for a summit with former U.S. president Donald Trump, Warren was spotted riding his Ural motorcycle — a Soviet-era styled sidecar bike he had long owned and cherished.
A Russian television crew, in town to cover the geopolitical spectacle, happened upon Warren while he was running errands. Intrigued by the sight of a rugged local man riding a Ural — a motorcycle with deep roots in Russian manufacturing and heritage — they stopped him for an impromptu interview.
Warren, with his long career as a fire inspector behind him, thought little of the interaction. He answered questions casually, chatting about how hard it was to source parts for his beloved machine given modern supply chain issues. But unbeknown to him, that short exchange lit up Russian social media once it was broadcast back home.