He was a founding member of the Russian Guild of Heraldic Artists and the creator of many state symbols of modern Russia including its coat of arms.

In 1948 Ukhnalyov was accused of planning to dig an underground tunnel from Leningrad to Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow to perform a terrorist act.

[1] Ukhnalyov designed the Memorial to the Victim of Political Repressions in Petrograd - Leningrad on Troitskaya Square [ru] in Saint Petersburg.

The rock is set on a polished granite base with inscriptions "To prisoners of GULAG", "To victims of Communist Terror", "To Freedom Fighters" and a line from the "Requiem" poem of Anna Akhmatova: "I wish to call all of them by name" (Хотелось бы всех поименно назвать...) The monument was unveiled 4 September 2002 in preparation for celebrations of 300 years of Saint Petersburg.

[5] According to Solvki Encyclopedia Ukhnalyov and the architect of the memorial, State Duma deputy Yuly Rybakov, paid all the expenses personally including the transportation of the 10,400 kg boulder from the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea.