His father, Anatoly Mikhailovich Matovnikov, was a military man, a staff member of the State Security Committee, who in the 1980s held the post of deputy head of the secretariat of the 7th KGB Directorate (external surveillance of Soviet and foreign citizens), which was subordinate to the Alpha Group.

[3][2][4] After the 1991 Soviet coup attempt, in the context of a possible assault on the Lubyanka Building, Matovnikov destroyed secret management documents, for which he was subsequently forced to retire by the new leadership.

[6][7][2][8][4] He served under the command of Major General Viktor Karpukhin, and according to a colleague of Colonel Yury Torshin, during the service they "looked with envy at the participants in the storming of Amin's palace - holders of military orders.

[5] In 1988, he ensured the safety of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during her visit to the areas of Armenia affected by the earthquake.

[8][20][21][5] According to media reports, Matovnikov was a special assignment officer under Russian President Vladimir Putin and was one of the leaders of secret military operations abroad, including in Ukraine, where he coordinated the actions of personnel during Russia's annexation of Crimea.

[22][2][4][5] In 2017, in the rank of Major General by decree of Putin, Matovnikov was awarded the title "Hero of the Russian Federation", in his own words, "for Syria.

"[23][24][5] Due to the closed nature of the service, he first appeared in public and in front of cameras only during the award ceremony, despite the fact that the names of most of the Syrian "Heroes of Russia" are classified.

On 26 June 2018, Matvonikov was appointed Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District, replacing Oleg Belaventsev.

[33][34][35][36][37][38] On 28 June 2018, in Pyatigorsk, Belaventsev introduced Matovnikov to the heads of the subjects, representatives of the clergy, law enforcement agencies, and the staff of the embassy.

[47][48][49][50] In 2019, together with the director of the Russian National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, he submitted documents on the criminal activities of a member of the Federation Council Rauf Arashukov for Putin's consideration, after which he was arrested.