Russian handwriting: is it necessary to know "cursive"?

In the US we have a regular set of letters and a cursive set of letters. Most everything that is done for business etc, is done in regular letters and I can't remember the last time I saw cursive used for anything. What I want to know is if its the same way in Russia, I have a chapter that teaches the "cursive" (or whatever they are called over there) forms of letters in Russia. I am not sure if I am wasting my time or not since over here we barely use cursive for anything anymore since everything is done digitally.

If you are going to Russia - YES, YES, and YES. All Russians can write in cursive since they are 6-7 yrs old, and they use it in most cases when they write by hand, because it's faster. So if you are going to work or to study with Russians, you'll probably need to understand other students' notes, your boss' resolutions, or the notes, that manager of your apartment building or some annoyed neighboors might leave at your door.

Cursive is also used in postcards, signs, packings. etc. Moreover, many Russian computer scripts look sort of cursivish when in italic.
e.g. Здравствуйте, я Ваша тетя = Здравствуйте, я Ваша тетя

There's no reason to be afraid of cursive. It's almost the same as English one, and it will take you an hour at most to learn all the letters (though you'll need a lot of practice to read problem handwritings).

Cursive was discussed here a lot (search option is available). Check these topics first:
How often is Russian script used?
Cursive... Is it really that necessary?
Learn cursive
Introduction and Question re Newbie Use of Cursive

And then any topics from this list: click.

But really... Just learn it.

I guess I should have done a search before posting, my bad. The author said it was important also, I just wanted to clarify whether it was similar to the US where we learn it and don't use it much or if it actually was important. Question answered, Thanks!

You are welcome!
Sorry about the search remark, I didn't mean it as a reproach.