Official Russian propaganda states that the US chose Griner over Whelan, but there is nothing to indicate that is true. In fact, because of the source, it's far more likely to be a play on the situation.
Makes sense that this would be the public Russian stance after never offering Whelan to begin with...
"The first problem is that he is white. His second problem is he is a man, his third problem is he is a heterosexual, that is something that cannot be forgiven today."
The creator of the Russian Media Monitor states the obvious...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Meanwhile in Russia: top state TV propagandists reveal the narrative they'll be pushing to harm Biden and enrage Americans about the exchange of Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout by falsely claiming that it wasn't Russia's decision to oppose Whelan's release, as opposed to Griner. <a href="https://t.co/Iv5217XVCR">pic.twitter.com/Iv5217XVCR</a></p>— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1601038359626805249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" >December 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>