After graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1961, Dolgov entered the diplomatic corps of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[1] His first ambassadorial appointment came on 22 August 1990 when he was appointed as Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Australia, with concurrent accreditation to Fiji, Nauru and Vanuatu.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Dolgov continued as Russian ambassador to Australia.
[1] From 1994 to 1997 he was Ambassador of Russia to Kazakhstan, and 1997 to 1999 he was Director of the First Department for the CIS Countries in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[1] Since September 2005, Dolgov has been lecturing in consular law at his alma mater.