Россия-1 nails it here. The USA is a total joke.

It’s bullshit. Russia simply took Paul Whelan off the table. His release may happen one day, but not while Griner was still in custody.

It was a ploy to manufacture this black-vs.-white, veteran-vs.-civilian, straight-vs.-gay culture-war catnip, precisely scripted for the evening news segment you saw above. It worked like a charm, not like this sideshow really matters with hundreds of Russians dying in the trenches per day.

Whelan’s alleged status as a “spy” (“heroic spy!”) is a fabrication too. The “flash drive” crap was a set-up by Russia to claim a human bargaining chip, nothing more.

All that said: The Whelan-for-Bout trade had been on the table when Donald Trump was President, but the latter didn’t care. Sad.

Your source: "Trust me bro"

1. Source for proposition: "Paul Whelan is not a spy; he was framed."
--Paul Whelan himself.
--The CIA, noting they never would have hired someone with Whelan's spotty military record to serve as a spy. He was punitively discharged from the Marines in 2008 after being court-martialed for larceny, false statements, dereliction of duty.

2. Source for proposition: "Russia simply took Paul Whelan off the table."
--President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Blinken, commenting that Russia is treating his case differently.
--Alexei Tarasov, Viktor Bout's attorney.

3. Source for proposition: "Paul Whelan could have been traded for Viktor Bout under the Trump Administration."
--John Bolton, who's no fan of the Biden Admin.
--And... welllll... Trump himself: "I TURNED DOWN A DEAL WITH RUSSIA FOR A ONE-ON-ONE SWAP OF THE SO-CALLED MERCHANT OF DEATH FOR PAUL WHELAN." (via Truth Social, 12/11/22)

Ask for links if you want them. It's all out there.

Add it all up, and that's a lot of different people on the American side, with very different motivations, painting the same picture of this detention vs. Russia state-backed propaganda TV, which all takes its direction from one man.

If you're taking the latter at face value, then I have a bridge to sell you.

Paul Whelan should be returned, because the charges against him are bogus, but he's not a hero and he's not a spy. This is a story of Russian duplicity and diplomatic chess plain and simple.