He started trying it before the mutiny by having its members be registered in the military, and that and Prigozhin’s own claims that he and his troops were bombarded by Russian troops are probably the biggest admission that Prigozhin was already going out the window, likely because of the his criticisms towards the performance of the Russian army. Prigozhin likely saw himself too close to Putin to ever consider getting axed by him, but Putin will axe any ‘close friends’, or the closest thing he can call as such.