1. Mykhailo Dobkin was born to a Jewish father and Ukrainian mother in Kharkiv.
21 Facts About Mykhailo Dobkin
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Mykhailo Dobkin graduated from the National University of Internal Affairs with a degree in law and the Kharkiv National University of Economics, majoring in international economics.
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From 1993 until 2002, Dobkin was an entrepreneur and director of several businesses.
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Two years later, Mykhailo Dobkin again switched his party to the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, and the year afterwards joined the Party of Regions, where he remained until the Verkhovna Rada was dissolved for the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election.
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From late 2005, Mykhailo Dobkin was a member of the political council of the Party of Regions.
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From March 2006 to March 2010, Mykhailo Dobkin was Mayor of Kharkiv.
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In office, Mykhailo Dobkin was close to Hennadiy Kernes, who exerted unofficial power upon Mykhailo Dobkin.
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In 2014, amidst Euromaidan, Mykhailo Dobkin formed the Ukrainian Front, an organisation in support of Yanukovych.
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Mykhailo Dobkin furthermore stated his intention to "clean and purify our Ukrainian land of those who come here with plans for occupation".
10.
In February 2014, Mykhailo Dobkin called for Ukraine's capital to be moved from Kyiv to Kharkiv, and for a federal structure of government to be established in Ukraine.
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Mykhailo Dobkin tendered his resignation as governor on 26 February 2014, "following [a] decision to run for the office of the President of Ukraine".
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On 10 March 2014, Mykhailo Dobkin was arrested on charges of leading a separatist movement.
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On 25 March 2014, Mykhailo Dobkin filed documents to the Central Election Commission to run in the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election.
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Mykhailo Dobkin was arrested on suspicions of abuse of office and assistance to fraud in order to obtain 78 hectares of land in Kharkiv worth more than US$8.5 million.
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Mykhailo Dobkin left Opposition Bloc in October 2017, voicing his disapproval of the party's support for judicial reform efforts.
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Mykhailo Dobkin condemned the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on its second day.
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On 17 March 2022, Mykhailo Dobkin posted a video of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his Instagram page, and signed it with the comment "[He is] ours".
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Mykhailo Dobkin graduated from the Kharkiv Theological Seminary, and on April 7,2022, in the Kharkiv Annunciation Cathedral, Metropolitan Onufry of Kharkiv and Bohodukhiv ordained him to the rank of deacon.
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Mykhailo Dobkin is married and has four children; a son and three daughters.
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Since first meeting Hennadiy Kernes in 1998, Mykhailo Dobkin was his close friend and political ally, and was succeeded by him as Mayor of Kharkiv in 2010.
21.
In 2022, Mykhailo Dobkin became a Deacon in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.