Google will reportedly move engineers out of its Russian office to avoid the country's increasingly restrictive Internet freedom laws.

A group of employees will stay in Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal, to focus on sales, business partnerships, user support, marketing, and communications.

"We are deeply committed to our Russian users and customers and we have a dedicated team in Russia working to support them," a Google spokesman told PCMag in an email.

Though he declined to specify how many people will be relocated, or why, suspicions point to a new Russian law set to take effect next year.

The mandate requires information on local citizens to be stored in Russian data centers rather than facilities located in other countries. Internet firms that violate the law could face penalties, the Journal said.

The tech titan's office closures were originally reported by The Information, which cited "people informed of the decision." Earlier this month, the site disclosed similar departures by other Western and Russian software companies and engineers.

Google has also tangled with China over censorship.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 12:40 p.m. Eastern with comment from Google.

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