In 1809, Oeri travelled to Russia in the company of the landscape painter, Jakob Christoph Miville (1786-1836), of Basel. They initially visited Moscow. When Miville moved on to St.Petersburg, Oeri remained; working as a portrait painter and art teacher. He was an eyewitness to the Fire of Moscow in 1812 and lost many of his works. He responded by painting pictures of the fire and its aftermath. Altogether, he was there for eight years, then spent a short time in Lübeck before returning to Zürich.