From Our Own Correspondent

The destruction of Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol has garnered global headlines, but the fighting has also filtered out to the rural towns and villages which surround it. These lack the city’s resources for dealing with the dead, the injured, and the bereaved, and when Wyre Davis reached one of these rural spots, he found even the most day-to-day tasks present significant challenges and risks.Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to occupy the middle ground on Ukraine; he remains on good terms with Vladimir Putin, but Turkey is also a member of NATO. This has enabled President Erdogan to take a central role in efforts to reach a peace deal, inviting negotiators to meet in Istanbul. And this is perhaps the ideal city for discussions aimed at healing division. Istanbul marks the point where Europe and Asia meet, with the Bosphorus Strait running between the two. The Bosphorus also occupies a key strategic position in this conflict, which Ellie House found herself reflecting on as she took a boat