Alexei Ivanovich Rykov (Russian: Алексе́й Ива́нович Ры́ков; IPA: [ɐlʲɪˈksʲej ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ˈrɨkəf]; 25 February 1881 – 15 March 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician most prominent as Premier of Russia and the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1929 and 1924 to 1930 respectively.Rykov joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1898, and after it split into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions in 1903, he joined the Bolsheviks—led by Vladimir Lenin.