She won the silver medal in the individual 400 m at the 2010 European Athletics Championships with a personal best run of 49.92 seconds.
She won the relay gold at the 2011 Summer Universiade and won her first global level medal with a relay bronze at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Ustalova began 2013 with an indoor best 51.31 seconds to win the Russian indoor title.