Ustinov was standing at Pushkin Square in August 2019 as he was surrounded and beaten by riot police amidst the 2019 Moscow protests. The protests were held in response to the rejection of many independent candidates by the Moscow City Election Commission (MCEC) in the 2019 election at Moscow City Duma and were the largest held in Russia after the 2011–2013 Russian protests. He was arrested and held on numerous charges in relation to the mass protests. The Tverskoy District Court found him guilty of dislocating a riot police's shoulder and sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison. However, the court did not review the videos showing Ustinov not participating in the protests nor attacking the police.