через огонь, воду и медные трубы (cherez ogon', vodu i mednye truby)

Literally: Through fire, water, and copper pipes

Example: “Этот врач прошёл огонь, воду и медные трубы.” — That doctor has been through fire and water.

English equivalent: To go through fire and water

Origin: Fire and water are the oldest images of ordeal and have been since antiquity. The copper pipes are the trumpets of fame: Serov's dictionary of catchphrases reads fire and water as hardship and the trumpets as the harder test of glory and popularity, which not everyone who survived the first two can withstand. Someone who has come через огонь, воду и медные трубы has been through everything. When the trumpets joined the phrase is not documented.