Matrosskaya Tishina is operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service, and is famous for having held several notable prisoners, including Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev; Gennady Yanaev, the leader of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt; and Alexei Navalny.

1 was subordinated to the Main Penitentiary Department (GUIN) of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, and at that time it contained up to 5,000 prisoners under investigation or awaiting sentencing.

On May 2, 2004, Sergey Ershov, a Ukrainian man escaped by dismantling brickwork and breaking the perimeter fence, receiving numerous injuries in the process.

Djulger was found several days later hiding in the rubble of construction debris on the prison grounds, eating waste from a container in a nearby garbage can.

On May 7, 2013, Oleg Topalov, accused of theft and double murder, escaped after pulling himself through a hole in the ceiling of his cell he had dug solely with a metal spoon, climbing onto the roof and over the perimeter fence.