[14] Dobkin was later reported to have fled to Russia, along with Kharkiv mayor Hennadiy Kernes, but he returned to attend a pro-Russian rally in the city.

[15][16] In late February 2014, he indicated that he intended to run for president in the upcoming Ukrainian presidential election due to his concerns regarding the behaviour of the revolutionary government towards the Russophone population.

[17][18] Dobkin tendered his resignation as governor on 26 February 2014, "following [a] decision to run for the office of the President of Ukraine".

[24][25] During his presidential campaign, Dobkin advocated for regionalism and the establishment of a federal Ukraine, Ukraine joining the Eurasian Customs Union, improving Russia–Ukraine relations, "defending the joint Russian-Ukrainian history, culture and traditions", maintaining Ukrainian neutrality, tax relief in the agricultural sector over the next 15 years, and the abolition of conscription.

[28] In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Dobkin was again re-elected into the Verkhovna Rada, this time as third on the party list for Opposition Bloc.

Dobkin was subsequently 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.

[7] Two days later, a Kyiv court ruled that Dobkin was to remain in custody until 14 September 2017, and granted bail at ₴50 million.

[33] Dobkin left Opposition Bloc in October 2017, voicing his disapproval of the party's support for judicial reform efforts.

[38][39] On 4 October 2020, 11 days prior to the election, he withdrew his candidacy in favour of incumbent mayor Hennadiy Kernes, his political ally and successor.

[46] On 17 March 2022, Dobkin posted a video of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his Instagram page, and signed it with the comment "[He is] ours".

[48][49] In June, Igor Girkin (Strelkov) said that a month before the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the 5th service of the FSB was negotiating with Dobkin about the possibility of creating the so-called "Kharkov People’s Republic" in the Kharkiv Oblast.

[1] Since first meeting Hennadiy Kernes in 1998, Dobkin was his close friend and political ally, and was succeeded by him as Mayor of Kharkiv in 2010.