Russian term (edited): ��������

Вот два варианта:

“He said there was once a young frog and an old frog who fell into a jug of milk. They struggled to get out, but they couldn’t, and the old frog said to the young frog, `Give up, my boy. It’s no use struggling. We’ll never make it. We’re going to drown, might as well accept it.` And with that, the old frog sank back down into the milk and sure enough, he drowned. But the young frog could not accept it. Despite himself, he went on scrabbling and pushing against the side of the jug, so hard and so long that he churned up the milk, which curdled and turned into butter. And when that happened, he climbed out and survived.” He paused. “Don’t be like the old frog.”

There is the well-known story of the frog that fell into a milk jug and continued to kick and struggle until he had churned the milk into butter and could climb out at the top of the milk jug.

Russian term (edited): ��������

Another option.

Look, how muddy his horse is, flouncing about in the swamp; the dogs, too, look rather crestfallen. Ah, my good sir, you'll have to try the race again and ...
stowe.thefreelibrary.com/Uncle-Toms-Cabin/2-22

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Note added at 2 days 4 hrs 11 mins (2005-12-01 04:37:36 GMT)
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ИЛИ:
flounder about

While floundering about in the boggy ground, they were rescued by a small tribe of highland headhunters few people knew anything about - the Kelabits. ...
www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/6980/bario_3.html

Gerassim, the carpenter, a tall gaunt peasant, with a curly red head and a face overgrown with hair, is floundering about in the water under the green ...
www.online-literature.com/anton_chekhov/1129/

Russian term (edited): ��������

to scramble - to struggle eagerly, to move with urgency or panic