It's named after a Matroska Doll. Quite funny, never even knew that. From Wikipedia:
"Matroska is an English word derived from the Russian word Matryoshka (Russian: матрёшка [mɐˈtrʲoʂkə]), which means nesting doll (the common Russian cylindrical-shaped doll within a doll, also known as a babushka doll). This is a play on the container (media within a form of media/doll within a doll) aspect of the matryoshka as it is a container for visual and audio data. The loose transliteration may be confusing to Russian speakers, as the Russian word matroska (Russian: матроска) actually refers to a sailor suit."
Matroska - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As for your other comment, haha.
But seriously, while the lead designer of MCF was Russian, I don't think the creator of MKV was. As far as I can tell, the dude (Steve Lhomme) was French.
Also, do you want my address so you can mail me that vodka?